


From the Forest

by QuimeraTheTraveller



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Adopted Children, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Aro/Ace Character, Aromantic Character, Asexual Character, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Bruce Wayne needs more daughters, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Magic, Magic AU, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, Protectiveness, Sort Of, angst cannot be avoided, expect character growth from OC, this is me learning to write domestic fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2019-10-13 23:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 31,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17497616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuimeraTheTraveller/pseuds/QuimeraTheTraveller
Summary: On a fateful night, The Batman finds someone in the forest that surrounds his home. Or did THEY find HIM?Kinda one-shots that combine into plot. Read the titles and chapter summaries to get an idea of what you'll find.





	1. A child

**Author's Note:**

> This is me learning how to write domestic fluff and child behaviour. Does this have a semi-cooked plot behind it? Maybe. Maybe not.
> 
> I apologize in advance for typos and mistakes in grammar, English is my third language.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

He stumbled through the forest: almost, almost, he was almost home...  
It had been a rough night. He had taken some stab wounds; nothing severe, but still painful and a bother. The Batmobile was somewhere deep in Gotham's Bay, and that combined with an EMP that had fried his comms. had forced him to get back to the mansion by foot. Bruce Wayne was thankful that nobody in the city had an habit of going for pre-dawn walks into the woods that surrounded his home. He didn't have the energy to be sneaky anymore. He would be lucky if he could make it to the main building on his own. Surely Alfred was already watching attentively for any sign of him. He just had to get into one of the security cameras' view...  
Something moved in his peripheral vision. Batman stopped dead on his tracks and swirled around, reaching for his belt. If someone had followed without him noticing, he had to change course. Please, let it be just an animal...  
"Are you okay?", Asked a small, worried voice.  
He turned around again and had to look downwards to find its owner.  
A small girl looked at him with big brown eyes, half-hidden under her messy, brown and curly hair.

  
She was also naked.

  
"How did you get here?", Batman blurted out, startled by the sight and kneeling to unclip his cape and cover the little girl with it. "Where are your parents?"

  
"I saw you and you looked like you needed help. So I wanted to help. Do you want my help?"

  
She said very seriously. He blinked, maybe too dazed by the long night to think straight.

  
"Yes. Sure. Would you help me to get my friend's attention? I need you to go in that direction.", He pointed, and the little girl followed with her eyes. "And you have to stand in front of the big door of the house. Call for Alfred and he will come out."

  
"Okay!", She nodded cheerfully. "Are you staying here?"

  
"Yes.", He sighed, sitting down against a tree.

  
"Okay! Be right back!", She repeated, and ran off.

  
"Don't wander off!", He called before resting his head against the trunk, yelling at himself for allowing a naked child to keep running around on their own in a godforsaken forest at dawnbreak.  
  
Alfred's eyes widened at the sight of a child covered in the Batman's cape jumping around their front door. He was out of the cave before she could even call his name, and went to meet her with a small knife and a basic medkit.

  
She waved hello as soon as she saw him until he arrived at the gates.

  
"Hello!", She greeted joyfully before turning around and running into the forest again.

  
"Wait! Where did you get that cape?!", Alfred yelled, fumbling to open the door.

  
To his surprise and delight, she stopped.

  
"Man in the forest! This way!", She bounced around, but waited for him and took his hand to guide him.

  
The treck was short, if not a bit difficult, but the sun was raising and it was getting easier to see were they were stepping. Not that it seemed a problem to the little girl.

  
"We're back!", She squeaked, crouching next to the Bat.

  
He rose his head groggily.

  
"Master Bruce!", Alfred rushed to check him over.

  
"'M fine, 'M fine... Help me get up..."

  
The little girl stepped back and watched them with her big eyes.

  
"Come with us.", Wayne said, and she nodded and trotted ahead.

 

  
  
In no time they were back in the mansion, the little one opening and closing doors for them. When the two men settled down in a couch of the living room, she sat down in front of the fireplace, watching it as if it were some interesting show.

  
"Who is she, Master Bruce?", Alfred asked quietly.

  
"I don't know. I found her in the forest. Hey.", He called, and she turned around. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

  
"Ada.", She answered with a smile.

  
"What were you doing in the forest?", He asked while shedding off his suit.

  
"It's pretty and fun. I like it."

  
"You were there because you wanted to? Nobody took you there?"

  
She nodded at the first part and shook her head at the latter.

  
"What about your parents? Where are they?", Asked Alfred.

  
At that, Ada just blinked and tilted her head, as is she didn't understand the question.

  
"Huh?", She sounded.

  
"How long have you been there?", Bruce asked carefully.

  
She just shrugged.

  
The man exchanged a glance.

  
Covered in a blanket of his own, the young man sat down next to her.

  
"My name is Bruce."

  
"Blus!", She repeated cheerfully.

  
That stole a smile from both men.

  
"Would you like to stay here to live, Ada?"

  
She went silent at that and stared off into the distance, past a window. The seconds stretched and they were beginning to think she wanted to say no but didn't want to upset them when she blinked and spoke:

  
"Will I still be able to go to the forest?"

  
"Of course.", Bruce nodded.

  
Ada released a giggle and darted forwards, hugging him.


	2. The new inhabitant

Bruce Wayne had taken in a 7 year old girl, who spent most of her time running around the gardens or plastered on Alfred's leg, watching his whereabouts and asking questions about the house. She still wore too big clothes for her small figure, but she didn't seem to mind and didn't look interested in going shopping, so he had sat Ada on his lap and they had gone through an online catalogue together, and she had pointed at whatever she thought was nice. Despite that, she still enjoyed running around in oversized hoodies that she wore like a dress.  
Ada had not asked questions about the whole Batman affair. Maybe she didn't even know what was that about, if she had been in the forest for an undetermined amount of time.  
Bruce and Alfred sat her down on a couch after lunch.

  
"Do you know who Batman is?", Bruce asked softly.

  
"You!", She answered with a proud smile.

  
"Yes, but there's something you need to know. That is supposed to be a secret, okay? You can't tell anybody, not even your best friend, not even if you think that they would keep the secret too. Understood?"

  
"Not tell anybody. Okay!", She nodded, and jumped off the couch.

  
"Stop right there, young lady!", Alfred scolded her. "We are not quite done yet."

  
"Oh. Okay.", And she sat down on the floor.

  
"There are some places in the manor were I would rather for you to not go."

  
Ada scowled.

  
"It's for your safety. I can show you those places if you want, but I don't want you to be there on your own. Okay?"

  
"Okay!", She stood up and bounced around to grab Bruce's hand. "Show me!"

 

 

"This is the Batcave. I don't want you to be around here because there are lots of dangerous stuff, and you could get lost."

  
"It's cold. Is that a dinosaur?"

  
"Yes."

  
"Cool."

 

 

"This is the garage. Here I have all my normal vehicles."

  
"They are all black."

  
"Yes. That's my favourite colour. What's yours?"

  
"I like green and blue. And white. I also like orange; more than white but less than blue. But more than green. I also like yellow. A bit less than orange."

 

 

 

"This is my study."

  
"Ooooh!!! So many books!"

  
"There are some important papers around here that I need to know where to find, that's why I want to ask you to never take anything from this room."

  
"I like the armchair! Can I come in if you are here and stay at the armchair?"

  
"As long as you are quiet."

  
"Quiet as the forest in winter!"

 

 

 

"This is my room. I'm not here usually, but..."

  
Ada was already jumping on the bed.

 

 

 

"Alfred told me you have already been exploring the gardens."

  
"They are nice but they have few trees. And the ones it has are unhappy because they can't grow freely.", She pouted.

  
"Uhm... I'll tell Alfred to let them grow and plant some more, then."

  
Ada rose her gaze, studying his expression. After a few seconds of darting eyes, she smiled.

 

 

 

Alfred was preparing breakfast when he heard the sound of quick, small steps nearing him. In no-time, Ada slammed into his leg.

  
"Good morning, young lady."

  
"Good morning! Can I have peaches?"

  
"Again, my dear?"

  
"Yes!"

  
Alfred opened the cabinet and pulled the can of peaches out. Ada reached for it, but the man rose it again.

  
"No, no, no. I'll give it to you once it's in a plate. Go wash your hands."

  
She ran to the sink and washed her hands in a flash, sitting at the table and swinging her legs. Alfred laid the plate with the peaches in front of her with a small fork.

  
"There you go."

  
"Thanks, Alfred!"

  
And she ate with delight.

  
"Peaches again?", Asked Bruce, coming into the room while tying a tie.

  
"Yeash!"

  
"No talking with a full mouth."

  
"Soghy."

  
"I'm going to a meeting, I'll be back by the afternoon.", He said, stuffing a toast into his mouth and ruffling Ada's hair.

  
The little girl made an effort to swallow.

  
"Have a good day!", She yelled after him.

  
"Well, lady Ada. What's our plan for today...?"

  
When he turned around, Ada's plate was empty and he could hear her footsteps, running around the house.


	3. An urge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ada's and Bruce's first argument, and the first power flourishes.

Ada poked the earth with the stick Bruce had given her.

"Ada, that's not the pole's purpose.", He sighed.

She rose her gaze to meet his eyes, not stopping the rhythmical poking. "You said you wanted to watch me fight, right? What better way to show you than teach you?"

"With movies!", She replied without missing a beat.

"Movies don't do it quite right, dear. Come on, copy my stance.", And he got in position.

That called the girl's attention enough to get her to cooperate.

For a while, he just taught her stances and tried to improve her fluidity.

"Come on, now hit my pole with all of your strength.", He compelled her.

Ada took two steps backward and lunged to hit it with her stick, but Bruce swung it aside and, finding nothing to collide with, Ada fell to the ground with a yelp.

"And that's why you should always prioritize balance over powerful strikes.", He smiled, kneeling to check on her. "Are you hurt?"

Ada didn't answer. She was staring at the dirt on her hands.

She had been dirty too, the day they had found each other.

"I miss the forest.", She mumbled instead. "Can I go there?", She asked with imploring eyes.

Bruce flinched.

"How about I take you there after lunch? Come on, I'm going to ask Alfred when will it be ready."

He got up and walked to the house, but Ada didn't follow. She looked at the forest, further than the metal gates, and got up.

 

Ada returned two days later, dirty but unharmed, and extremely joyful.

A joy the two men realised had died down as days passed in the manor.

She was still grounded for running away.

"You can't just leave without saying a thing!", Bruce had yelled.

"I told you I wanted to go to the forest!"

"And I told you to wait for me! And even if you didn't, why didn't you come back before it got dark? It's dangerous out there!"

"I wanted to stay there! The forest is safe!"

"No, it's not!"

Ada screamed and run away to her room, crying.

For the next two days, she became a shadow, and Bruce could only catch glimpses of her. The only reason he knew she was still in the house was because Alfred was managing to reconnect with her. The child was proving to be quite stubborn in her wish to stay angry and away from Bruce.

 

And then it happened.

It came with the job. One cannot get into vigilantism and expect to come back home uninjured every time. There were nights where it was almost nothing, just scratches.

There were nights where it was a shotgun wound to the stomach. Like tonight.

Ada had heard the call, hidden under the couch were Alfred was reading. Her eyes had widened in worry as the butler made a run for the cave and for a few seconds stood very, very still, feeling her heartbeat speed up.

She scrambled to get out of under the furniture and ran to the entrance of the cave, left open in Alfred's rush. She went down the stairs, falling the last two steps and letting out a yelp that revealed her presence. She got to her feet quickly, noticing that Alfred hadn't paid her any mind, already looming over the sprawled Batman on the medical table.

There was something about the way his cape fell down to the floor in an ungracious manner that made her heart ache and tears stream down her eyes. The beeping of the heart monitor made her nervous and dizzy.

The only thing she was processing was that that situation was wrong. It shouldn't be like that. It couldn't stay like that!

So she hurriedly walked over to them and stood at the other side of the table.

"Lady Ada, return upstairs immediately!", Alfred yelled at her without decorum, but made no move to make her go away. Too busy.

The child was staring at Bruce's face: sweaty, scrunched in pain and pale. Her eyes drifted down, down, to his abdomen, and her eyes widened at the red.

"Lady Ada!", Alfred tried again.

Ada stretched an arm and let her hand hover over the wound, holding Bruce's hand with her free one.

Alfred went to swat away the little hand that was going to be the death of his Master (couldn't she see? Couldn't she see that he was trying to help him and she was disturbing?) But stopped dead when his eyes registered the faint glow spreading under Ada's palm. It was gathering in small spheres and raining on the gaping wound, fusing with the torn body below, an unnatural but somehow benign glow that stopped the bleeding and created some sort of protective barrier over what was left of the wound. Shrapnel floated away from it, trapped inside some of the spheres, and fell to the floor. Bruce's body visibly relaxed and his breathing eased.

Ada took back her hand and let her head rest against the table, not letting go of her dad's hand.

Alfred was left watching in awe, still checking the injury to make sure it was properly treated. After a few minutes work and some bandages, he washed his hands and took a deep breath.

"Would you like something to eat, Lady Ada?", He asked, newly composed.

But the child had already dragged a chair next to Bruce and was fast sleep, still holding his hand.

 

Well, that was going to be interesting.


	4. Enter Dick Grayson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ada's first interaction with death, and another child

Going to the circus had seemed like a good idea.

Ada didn’t usually leave the manor: Bruce and Alfred feared she might use her powers in front of other people, thinking that there was no problem about it, so at the moment, she was home-schooled. She usually went with Alfred to shop for groceries, and made awkward attempts at playing with other kids.

She either played alone, or went to Alfred and asked to return home.

It was obviously an issue, and Bruce was considering to enlist her in group activities so she could learn to bond with kids of her age.

The circus was to be an entertainment and a demonstration that special people could find a place in the world.

The little girl only had eyes for the acrobats, and looked up, up, with her jaw hanging open in pure awe, only sparing glances at the exotic animals and squirming closer to her dad when she saw the man in a devil costume spitting fire. She bounced lightly in her seat, watching the show mostly in silence, but as the lights deemed and the spotlight was on the trapezists, she froze.

“Dad”, she whispered nervously, tugging at his sleeve. “Dad, something is wrong.”

Bruce flinched at the distress in her voice.

“What do you mean?”, he whispered back. Her eyes were still fixed on the acrobats, about to jump.

“I don’t know. Dad, dad, something bad is about to happen…!”

There was barely time to react. They heard the loud gasp of the audience, and as the first scream rose above it, Bruce flung a hand to cover Ada’s eyes.

She still saw two figures falling through his fingers, and heard the bodies hitting the ground.

She gasped and clung to her father’s wrist.

 

The audience had been evacuated. Bruce had told her to sit where he could see her and wait for Alfred to pick her up. He was talking to the commissioner, and it was obviously a grown-up conversation.

She stared at the floor or her hands, replaying the couple’s fall in her head. They were dead, weren’t they? Death meant… Death meant nobody would see them ever again. Meant they wouldn’t be able to talk, to move, to smile. Death meant their bodies would disappear.

She heard sobbing and rose her head.

A kid sat at the other side of the ring, sitting next to an unknown adult that seemed to be part of the police. Ada recognized him as the tiny acrobat she had been watching. Huh. She had thought he was just a short adult.

Her brain made the connection so abruptly that it hurt. She didn’t have any kind of confirmation, but she knew. She knew a parent-child bond had been broken.

Before she could realise it, she had walked to them and was standing a few steps away.

The black-haired child noticed her and looked at her with his sad blue eyes. His cheeks were wet and his lips trembled as another tear escaped his eyes and he sobbed again.

Ada sobbed too.

They ran to each other and locked in a death-grip hug, becoming the most heart-breaking pile of wailing and crying Gotham had seen that year.

Every adult in the tent turned to look at them, parental instincts screaming. Bruce left the commissioner and trotted up to them, but somebody caught him by the elbow.

The psychologist that had been sitting with the boy looked at him with kind eyes.

“Give them a moment.”, he said from behind his glasses and greying hair. “The kid didn’t feel safe opening up to an adult. They are helping each other.”

Eventually, they wore themselves out and ended up slumped on the floor, still holding onto each other. Alfred arrived and tugged gently at Ada.

“Can he come with us?”, she asked with raspy voice.

“I don’t know, dear. Maybe he is required at the police station…”

Ada’s grip on the boy tightened. She looked away from Alfred and squirmed away from the man’s touch.

“Lady Ada, please.”, he pleaded softly.

“I don’t want to leave him! If he is going to the police station, so am I!”, she replied, voice trembling.

“That won’t be necessary.”, said a new voice.

They looked up, at commissioner Gordon, who stood right next to Bruce.

“We have been talking, and since social services are understaffed, you would be doing us a favour if Mr. Grayson could stay with you for a while. We have already taken his declaration, so you can leave.”, he said. Then, he looked down at the children, and with a softer voice, he added: “I am sorry for your loss, kid. Really. I hope everything gets better from now on.”

He nodded carefully, and the commissioner left.

Bruce crouched slowly next to them.

“Hello, Dick. My name is Bruce. Bruce Wayne. This is Alfred, my friend. And I see you have already met Ada, my daughter.”

The kids looked at each other, finally knowing the other’s name.

“Hi.”, Ada made an effort to smile despite the headache she had.

“Hi.”, he replied, doing the same.

“Would you like to go home, now?”

“Yes.”, Ada said, and got up, offering a hand to Dick.

He took it, but they didn’t let go. Ada kept holding his hand as they walked to the car, and Bruce rested a hand on the boy’s back.

The children fell asleep on the ride back: Ada leaning on Bruce and Dick leaning on Ada.

 

The funeral was sad, and Dick cried some more. Ada cried too, but only because he was crying. They clung to each other yet again, and she stood by his side when the circus’ people came to shake his hand and give his condolences.

“Take care of him, would ya?”, said most of them.

Ada nodded fervently.


	5. Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick's place in the family is settled.

“TAG IT!!!!”, Dick’s voice rang through the hallways until it reached Alfred in the kitchen.

Giggling and the sound of running followed the shout.

This had been going all morning.

If Ada had brought cheerfulness all by her own, Dick had joined to turn it into joy and glee. Finally, the little girl had someone to play with and who could be loving the way she was. Alfred and Bruce loved her a lot, but they were also aware of the difficulties they were having when interacting with her: despite being trustful and kind, she didn’t make jokes, she didn’t ask for attention that she knew she wouldn’t get, and she mostly stayed out of the way. Now, with Dick, she played, laughed, danced, pouted and shouted, just like any child.

Alfred stopped them when they ran through the kitchen; Ada chasing Dick.

“Lunch is almost ready, sirs.”, he said to the room, and that was enough to make them stop.

“What is it?”, asked Ada, panting.

“Vegetables.”

“Ieeuughhh!”, the children cringed.

“You won’t grow any taller if you only eat sweets and meat.”, hummed Alfred.

They sat at the table.

“But I eat a lot of fruit!”, Ada replied.

“Canned peaches barely count as fruit, dear.”, the butler set their plates in front of them.

The spinaches with cream still steamed softly. Ada gasped at the sight and started eating right away. Dick stared at her with a quizzical look.

“Thos spinch ‘re vry goo”, she said, munching.

“Lady Ada”, the man warned.

“Soghy.”

The boy picked up his fork and scooped up some of the greenish goo, smelling it suspiciously before putting it in his mouth. Surely it was tasty and soft.

“And here I thought you would put up a fight.”

“I thought you were going to give us broccoli or cauliflower, Al”, excused Ada.

“That’s what we will be having on Thursday.”

The kids groaned loudly, and Alfred turned around to hide an amused grin.

“Hey, Alfred.”, Dick called after a while. The butler turned around from cleaning the kitchen, giving him his attention. “Ada and I were wondering: if she was adopted first, but I am older, who is the older sibling?”

“You are.”, she said, bringing the fork to her mouth.

“I think YOU are.”, he replied, raising a brow.

“No, that’s silly. Right, Alfred?”

“You may be siblings in whatever fashion you prefer”, the man nodded. “But yes, if Master Dick is older than Lady Ada, then I would consider him the eldest.”

“Told you!”, she smiled, liking a stray leaf into her mouth.

“But how can you be sure? If you found her in the forest, how can you tell she is younger?”

“We… estimated from her proportions.”

“Her proportions. Really? Maybe she is tall for her age. Or short.”, Dick insisted.

“I like seven”, she said, finishing up her meal. “It’s an important number.”

That last addition felt out of place, but Alfred disregarded it as being a favourite number.

“So. I guess I am definitely the older brother, then?”, Dick asked meekly, looking between them as if awaiting confirmation.

“Yes!”, Ada answered without missing a beat.

She was smiling cheerfully, and it only widened when the boy looked at her warmly.

“Your lunch is getting cold, Master Dick”, Alfred sighed contently. “And you are not leaving this table until you have finished up your veggies.”


	6. Robin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ada needs to scream about her feelings.

“This is not right!”, she yelled, and it echoed through the cave.

“Ada…”

“This is not FAIR!”, she repeated.

Bruce looked down at her, his cowl already on. Dick was standing next to the Batmobile in his Robin suit, looking uneasy.

“Why are you taking him with you but not me?!”

“Because you are too young…”

“Too young? Seven is too young but nine isn’t?!”

Bruce muffled a sigh and kneeled down.

“You are both too young for this. I am taking Dick with me because he will be staying as far as possible of any danger, and I’ll be right there, ready to shield him if something happens.”

“Then…!”

“I can’t take you with us, because then I would have to be watching both of you, and that means there would always be one of you unprotected. Do you understand?”

Ada wanted to understand. She wanted her father to pass his solid logic to her, to be comforted by it and be able to nod and feel right about it.

“I could stay in the Batmobile. I could be near you to heal you when you get hurt!”

“And then you could get hurt, and what would we do, Ada? We wouldn’t be able to heal you”, he hated himself for trying to instigate fear in his daughter, but he felt it was necessary.

Ada found no words to answer that, so she pouted and grumbled in frustration.

“Uh, can I… Can I talk to her? In private?”, asked Dick.

Bruce turned to look at him and considered it for a second.

“Of course.”, he nodded, and stood up.

Dick offered her a hand and she took it, letting him take her to another section of the cave. They stared at each other for a moment.

“Are you mad at me?”, he asked softly.

“No.”, she replied too harshly. “I am… I am not mad. I am…”, she tried, focusing on what she felt. “I am scared. I’m scared. What if you get hurt? We’re still kids! Have you seen how dad comes back, sometimes? I don’t want…! I don’t want you to get hurt…!”, she cried. “I don’t want anybody to get hurt…!”, she wailed.

Dick hurried to hug her and rocked her softly.

“It’s okay, it’s okay… I am fine, everything is fine…”

She kept crying and clinging onto her brother.

“I promise I will be super careful. And I will avoid fights! And if I do end up in a fight, I will kick them in the balls to get it over quickly!”

Ada laughed weakly, just as he had intended.

“I know it is dangerous but… I want to do it. If I can avoid someone living through what happened to me, to my parents… Then I want to be out there, and be better at it, and be able to help everyone! Also, this way I can keep dad out of trouble. Do you understand?”

She sniffled and rubbed her sleeve against her face, nodding. That wasn’t Bruce’s rock-alike logic, but somehow it felt… right.

Dick hugged her again and offered her a hand to go back to the Batmobile. He let go and climbed into it.

Bruce turned his head from the pilot seat to look at her.

“We’ll come back sooner, tonight.”, he said, and after a moment of hesitation, he added: “I love you.”

Ada visibly startled at that. She knew Bruce loved her. She could see it in his eyes, in the faint, soft smile that tugged at his lips when he saw her, in the way she called her name and in the deep ‘thanks’ he said after she healed him; but still, he didn’t usually voice it. For him to feel the need to say it out loud, he must have thought she was very upset.

Before she could reply, they were already driving off.

“I love you too!”, she shouted, waving goodbye, “Stay safe!”


	7. Trekking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ada is a weird kid. Realising you are not normal can be distressing.

Ada was practically vibrating in her seat.  She swung her legs, new mountain boots covering her feet, tiny backpack right beside her, loaded with snacks, water and sun cream. She watched the trees pass by, barely containing her excitement. Bruce was driving them all to hike in the mountains, Alfred included. She had squeaked in joy when she processed the possibility of going to a different forest. It still felt like leaving home behind, but it was okay. She would come back. She always did.

Unknown to her, Bruce and Alfred had planned the trip as a part of a bigger plan. Since Ada still disappeared into the forest every now and then, with just a: “I am going to the forest” before leaving for days; and Bruce had not been able to follow her or find her, they had agreed that it would be a good idea to take her to the nature, with her knowing they were there, and see what she would do. If they were lucky, their presence wouldn’t influence her behaviour. Dick was in charge of making sure she didn’t disappear into the bushes.

The car finally parked and Ada jumped off, looking around. The sun warmed her skin, birds sang and a soft breeze brought the scent of vegetation and wild life. Dick and she immediately banded together and waited for the adults to be ready.

“Which way?”, she asked when Bruce had slung his backpack on.

“Follow that path”, he gestured with his chin.

The children ran ahead, talking enthusiastically. Alfred and Bruce walked together, watching from behind.

 

They walked through a forest, gaining altitude. When they stopped to rest, Ada wandered around to watch birds and look for other creatures. At a given moment, she went out of the path, following a bird’s song, and the others could see her raising a hand…

A robin flew straight into it, and she turned around with a radiant smile, walking back to them:

“Dick! Dick, quick! Give me your hand!”, she whisper-yelled, her smile impossibly wild in excitement.

The men watched in awe as the bird jumped to the boy’s hand and stayed there.

“Dad! Dad, take a picture! Quick, quick!”, she said, hugging her brother by the waist and leaning her head on his shoulder.

Bruce carefully but swiftly took the camera out of his backpack and positioned himself, one of his rare smiles behind it. Alfred stared at the picture in front of him, caught between the sweetness of the scene and the implications it might had: was this a power of Ada’s too? Or was it just a coincidence?

Once the picture was taken, the robin flew away and disappeared among the leaves. Ada turned around to watch it go, letting out a disappointed “Oh…”.

The adults took advantage to exchange a look, but Dick beat them to it:

“How did you do that?!”, he exclaimed, his own excitement finally being released after holding it in fear of the bird flying away.

“I don’t know!”, she giggled, “I saw it and I thought really hard that I would have liked if it came down to my hand and that I wouldn’t hurt it or try to keep it and it came!!!”, she squealed. “I would have looked really dumb if it didn’t”, she admitted, nodding to herself.

“That was soooooo cool!!! Can you do it again?”

“I don’t know. I will try later. Can we walk some more?”, she asked to the sitting men.

“I am ready. Alfred?”, Bruce asked, getting up from the rock where he had been sitting.

“Let’s get going, sirs.”

 

The next event happened when they were walking through a flower field. Ada crouched down to watch the butterflies and started picking up flowers from here and there, making a bouquet.

“I wonder who are this for”, Alfred mused. “Maybe we are about to find out who is Lady Ada’s favourite person…”

Bruce raised an eyebrow.

“She is too mindful to do that. She will split it in three, or pick up more flowers after…”, he guessed, but suddenly they saw Ada dropping the flower’s stems; the petals nowhere to be seen.

Bruce glanced back: if she had been pulling out the petals and letting them drop, they weren’t on the path.

Dick was looking at her with his brow furrowed, disconcerted expression turning into interest.

“Ada”, Bruce called, “What have you done with the…?”

She turned around to face him, munching something and a purple petal sticking out between her lips.

“Oh my”, voiced Alfred. “Lady Ada! Are you EATING flowers?!”

The girl swallowed, flinching at the raised voice.

“Yes…?”, her voice held uneasiness and fear.

Bruce nudged Alfred slightly.

“Do you do that often?”, the younger man asked softly, arriving where the children were standing.

“Yes. When I go to the forest, I eat them.”

“I see”, Bruce nodded, encouraging them to keep walking. “Do they taste good?”

“Yes!”, she replied excitedly. “They are sweet. Not as much as canned peaches, but still. Do you want to try some?”, she asked, looking up at him.

“Sure.”

“I want some too!”, said Dick.

Ada smiled and crouched to pick up more flowers. Bruce tried to identify the pattern she used to select them: she always checked the bigger ones, but more often decided to pick up the tenderer ones. In no time, she had two small bouquets. She handed the one with the biggest flowers to Bruce, and the other to Dick.

“Do we just…? Bite down the petals?”

“Yes”, she replied. “The stems taste a bit spicy. I don’t like spicy but you can eat them if you want.”

Dick bit down on his bouquet, dropping the stems.

Bruce stuffed the flowers into his mouth and bit down at a portion of the stems, dropping the rest.

“You are all going to get sick…”, Alfred sighed.

“Not bad”, Bruce nodded, if only to make Ada happy.

“I still like cereal more”, Dick commented, trying to get rid of a rest stuck between his teeth.

“I wonder why am I not surprised…”, she giggled, resuming her march.

“Is there something else you eat, when you are out?”, Bruce asked carefully.

“Bark”, she replied without looking back. “It’s not as good as flowers but it’s very easy to find. Just like moss.”

Alfred visibly cringed at that.

“And you have the audacity to say that you don’t like broccoli and cauliflower?”, he grumbled.

“Those taste horrible, Al!”, she defended herself.

Dick laughed in agreement.

“Worse than bark and moss?”

“Yeah!”

Bruce wanted to ask so many things: what quantity? How often? What kind? Does it affect your digestion? Do you eat something of animal origin? How did you find out you could live out of that?

Where do you go when you leave, and why do you leave?

But he bit his tongue. Too many questions could scare her away. He didn’t want to carry in his conscience a kid running into the woods to never be seen again.

 

They reached a huge lake and had lunch there. Dick and Ada played in the water for a while, splashing each other and chasing bugs and fishes. Eventually, Alfred decided to take a stroll around the water body, and Dick decided to accompany him. Ada laid down on the grass next to Bruce, bathing in the sun.

“Bruce”, she said after a while.

“Yes?”

“Am I… weird?”, she asked, troubled. “I mean, I know that I can heal and normal people does not do that so I am not normal. I… I guess normal people doesn’t eat bark or moss either, but… Is it a bad thing…? That I am this way…?”

Bruce laid on his side to look at her.

“Hey, hey, there’s nothing wrong about it, okay? It is unusual, and it will probably be for the best if that stays between us, but you don’t have to feel bad about it. You don’t have to feel bad about anything you do as long as you are not hurting other people.”

Ada lowered her eyes, not convinced.

“Why am I like this?”, she mused.

“I… do not know. But I want to figure it out. Do you?”, he asked, sitting up.

“Yes”, she replied, meeting his eyes.

“Okay. Well, I think knowing how you ended up in the forest next to the Manor is vital to do that. Have you remembered something?”

Ada shook her head.

“Hm. Basing on what we do know, I think it is safe to assume that you are a metahuman with healing powers. You must have some advanced way of getting nutrients, too, if you can live out of moss and the like.”

“That’s… That’s it, then? That’s what I am?”, she hugged her knees, insecure.

“I can’t say for sure, sweetheart. Maybe some day you will remember something important, or maybe you won’t find answers in the past, but in the present, or the future.”

“Huh.”

“In the meanwhile, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. You are my kid. You are Dick’s sister. You are a good person. I couldn’t ask for more.”, he smiled.

Ada blushed and looked away.

“There’s a thing I would like to ask you, though.”, he added.

“What?”, she turned to ask.

“What do you do when you go to the forest?”

She blinked at him in surprise. No response came, she just kept blinking and staring at his eyes. Bruce backed away a bit.

“Ada?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”, he pressed, brow furrowed.

She looked around, notably nervous. Her breathing was off. She was getting stressed.

“I-I don’t know!”, she whimpered.

“Hey, it’s okay, come here…”

He pulled her into a light hug, giving her room to squirm away if she needed to. Instead, she clung to him.

“I-I just know it’s safe and it’s fun and I want to be there, b-but is hard to remember… I run and I climb and I eat and I sleep until I miss you too much and then I come back…”

“It’s okay, kid, it’s okay… We’ll figure it out… As long as you are well, it is fine…”

Ada managed to compose herself before Alfred and Dick returned.

 

She was uncharacteristically silent on the way back to the car. She nodded and smiled at Dick’s comments and jokes, but made no addition.

“What’s wrong?”, he whispered to her ear.

She released a shaky exhale.

“I feel… lost. Lonely. Could you…? Could you hold my hand?”, Ada asked, her voice breaking.

Dick could only do as she asked when she started crying silently.


	8. Enter Barbara Gordon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If somebody comes into the Cave more than once in a week, they are family. It is law.

That night Ada had been sitting on Bruce’s chair down in the cave, staring at the data scrolling past the computer and listening to the comms. She was trying to get used to staying up late. Anyways, it’s not as if she could fall asleep easily when Dick and dad were on patrol: she rather having been awake all along than being awaken by Alfred shaking her and asking her to get to the cave as soon as possible.

She was bundled in her favourite blanket and horse-themed pyjamas, dozing off, when the Batmobile pulled into the cave and parked. The roof of the car retreated and Batman stepped out with his trademark scowl. Robin followed suit, and Ada was about to greet them when a new voice raised:

“…I’m just saying, I HAVE been helpful tonight! And who are you to tell me what I can and what I can’t do?”, a feminine voice grumbled, and another figure jumped out of the Batmobile.

Ada blinked owlishly at the addition.

“You are not qualified to do this”, Bruce growled.

“Why take me to your cave, then?”, replied the girl, way taller than Dick but still shorter than Bruce, crossing her arms. Ada took in her bat-alike suit and the red hair than poured from under her cowl.

“Huh”, she mused.

“For your protection. As soon as this case is closed, you are going home, Miss Gordon.”

The newcomer froze for a couple seconds.

“How-! How did you know?!”, she shouted, completely taken aback.

“I AM Gotham’s greatest detective.”

Ada chuckled at that, calling their attention. A new wave of tension passed through the cave.

“…What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in bed?”, Batman asked.

The girl looked between them, perplexed.

Ada just stared, tilting her head.

“Who are you?”, she asked.

It took a second for the girl to realise that she was talking to her.

“Uh… Batgirl. I am Batgirl.”

The little girl narrowed her eyes at that, if only for a second.

“Hi. I’m Ada.”

“Hi.”, Batgirl smiled.

“Ada”, Batman growled. “You did not need to introduce yourself. Barbara will be leaving soon.”

“Barbara”, she repeated the name. “Nice to meet you.”

“Uh, likewise.”

“She helped me take down a robber! Pretty cool, huh?”, Robin said as a matter of fact.

“Oh. Thanks for helping my brother!”

Batgirl startled at that.

“Oh my god. You are family?!”

“Yes”, she answered.

“No”, answered Batman.

Ada gave him a hurt look.

He sighed loudly.

“We have to work on your lying and acting…”, he mused, rubbing the space between his eyes. “We have to get back to the city. Since you are here, could you keep an eye on her?”, he asked her, already walking back to the Batmobile, Robin a few steps behind him, glancing at the girls with something akin to guilt in his face.

“Sure”, she replied.

When they drove off, they looked at each other.

“Are you old?”, Ada asked.

“I am a teen!”, Barbara protested.

“You can fend for yourself, then”, she inquired.

Batgirl must had caught the vibe, because she straightened to attention.

“…I do.”

“I will get you a motorbike if you promise you’ll help Batman and Robin”, she prompted.

Barbara blinked once before a wild smile assaulted her expression.

“We have a deal.”

 

Ada was woken up by a slight shake on her shoulder.

“You are grounded.”

“Why?!”, she screeched, rubbing her eyes in confusion and weariness.

“You know why.”

She caught sight of Batgirl behind her dad.

“But she helped, didn’t she?”

“I sure did!”

“Hush!”

“Why are you mad, then?”, Ada asked. She didn’t understand.

“You disobeyed my orders.”

“But if I hadn’t, then you would have gotten hurt!”

“I can deal with hurt.”

“Now you are just being melodramatic…”, Barbara pipped up.

He turned around to shoot her one of his glares, and it worked. The teen backed off and he turned around again to stare at her.

Ada blinked at him, her expression giving away nothing more than honest to god confusion and worry.

“Don’t be mad at her, Batman”, Robin walked to her sister’s side to offer support. “She had good intentions.”

He stared for a second longer before exhaling lengthy.

“Go to bed. Tomorrow you will have chores to do.”

_Tomorrow you will be helping Alfred_ , is what those words meant. Ada already did that, but she bit back a reply. She didn’t want to get into more trouble.

Batman turned around and walked to the Batmobile.

“Miss Gordon?”, he inquired, already in the pilot seat.

The younglings looked at each other.

“See you soon?”, Ada asked.

Batgirl shot them a radiant smile.

“Sure.”

They waved goodbye until the car was out of sight.

“So… What do you think?”, Dick asked.

She tilted her head, putting her thoughts in order.

“Pretty bold of her to name herself Batgirl”, she grumbled.

“And… a part from that…?”

Ada smiled, making a gargantuan effort to keep her lips pressed together, her eyes sparkling with joy:

“Sister!”, she squealed.


	9. Kinds of love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ada feels jealous for the first time in her life

Ada was starting to think accepting Barbara into the family had been the worst idea ever.

She was great in the field, Ada listened to their conversations and she knew for sure that Batgirl was adjusting amazingly well at fighting with Batman… And especially Robin.

No, the field work wasn’t the problem. It was great, really, really, she did a good job, one that Ada still wasn’t able to do, and she respected that; Barbara was covering for her, if she was out there, there was another set of eyes on dad and Dick…

The “problem” came… later.

When Bats trusted more on her, he revealed their identities. Barbara started coming at the afternoons after class, and Ada had been so excited to play with her new sister.

And so had been Dick.

It had started well. It had started great! Hiding was more exciting, adventures in the gardens and the storage rooms had been rediscovered, and they had even created a new game: Dick and Barbara would shoot their grappling hooks at the ceiling of the cave and become a swing for Ada; all of three, swinging together, giggling and laughing.

Then she had… noticed. Noticed gestures. Noticed looks. She couldn’t quite place their meaning, but she knew there was love behind them.

A kind of love that Dick never directed at her.

She felt left out. They would talk to each other for long minutes, and Ada couldn’t find a way to be part of it. When she realised that being there made her uncomfortable, she left.

Just like before Dick arrived, Ada clung to Alfred’s leg, following him around whenever Barbara came to visit.

The man did not comment, but after a couple of weeks, he could hear Ada’s hitched breathing. He whirled around, setting his eyes on her.

“Oh, dear”, he mused, stepping down the chair where he had been standing while cleaning a window.

Ada was sitting against the back of a couch, hugging her knees and doing her best to not cry.

“What’s wrong, darling?”, he asked softly, kneeling beside her and pulling her into a hug.

Ada clung at him and cried openly for a while, not being able to speak past her sobbing.

“Dick doesn’t…! love me…! anymore…!”, she cried loudly.

“That’s not true! You are Master Dick’s little sister, of course he loves you!”, he assured her, stroking her curls.

She shook her head.

“He has Barbara now…! He doesn’t care…! anymore…!”, she wailed.

“Lady Ada… I think I might now what is going on here…”, Alfred sighed, leaning back a bit. He handed a handkerchief to the little girl. “I am aware, too, that Master Dick shows… interest, in Miss Gordon. But that does not mean he doesn’t love you, or that Miss Barbara will replace you in his life.”

“W-Why does he not look at me the way he does with her, then? Am I…? Am I not enough…?”

“Oh, dear, it’s not that!”, Alfred rushed to sooth her. “It’s just… I think Master Dick is experiencing another kind of love towards Miss Gordon.”

Ada tilted her head at that.

“How… different?”

Alfred blinked at her.

“Do you remember these movies you and Master Dick watch the nights he doesn’t go on patrol, where a boy and a girl love each other very much and end up getting married? I think it is that kind of love.”

Ada jerked at that.

“They want to get married?!”

The butler chuckled.

“I do not think they have reached that point yet, little one. But do you understand what I meant? About the kind of love Master Dick feels?”

She nodded slowly.

“Dick… likes her.”

“Yes. Does that make you feel jealous?”, he asked, sitting back on the floor.

“Jealous?”, she frowned.

“Are you angry at Barbara for having Dick’s attention? Do you wish for her to be gone?”

“NO!”, she replied quickly. “I… I like Barbara. I am a little angry, but not because she is here, but because Dick- I just felt- He doesn’t play with me anymore…”, she was starting to sob again. “But I can’t just take Barbara away from him…! If what you said is true and they like each other, then they both would be sad…! And love makes people happy, right…? I can’t… I can’t do that…!”

Alfred embraced her again.

“While I am glad that you are not the kind of person that would tear somebody’s life apart, Lady Ada, I think this situation would be quickly solved if you spoke to them. Have you told them how you feel?”

“No… I-I thought it was silly a-and that they wouldn’t care…”

“Well, well, that won’t do. Let’s talk to them, shall we?”, Alfred said, standing up and offering a hand.

Ada dried her tears and snot with the handkerchief and accepted it.


	10. Whispers of the Wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new power, or just an ally?

They were playing hide and seek in the forest.  
Ada was REALLY good at hiding among the bushes and the tree's leaves, and for a moment Dick and Barbara had been worried that they wouldn't be able to find her at all if she decided to go wherever she went when she left.  
But they managed to tag her and were doing their best to be silent.  
They were good, too. After all, Bruce's training was highly based on stealth.  
Ada counted to sixty and went off, giggling in excitement. She checked her favourite hiding spots first: the branches of an old tree, wide and strong; the space between an accumulation of rocks, the densest bushes that were around, an empty trunk... She didn't go for her ultimate hiding place, tough. She was certain they wouldn't be there.  
She had checked all the usual places and her siblings were nowhere to be seen. She kept searching, now with her brow furrowed. Ada was getting frustrated. They were probably moving from hiding spot to hiding spot, and that meant they were watching her. She stood still and looked around, but when she saw nothing, she closed her eyes, trying to listen, listen, listen...

  
_"Well, well, what do we have here?",_ A bodiless voice asked.

  
Ada jerked and swirled around, heartbeat speeding up in case she had to make a run for the manor.

  
_"Do not be afraid, little one",_ it said, but she still fidgeted.

  
"Who are you?", She asked, tense.

  
_"Isn't it obvious, dear?"_ , The voice seemed to smile, and a gush of wind made the leaves around her swirl. _"I am the Wind. Nobody has listened to me in a long time. Would you like to hear some gossips? I have lots of them..."_

  
Ada was frozen in place. It was impossible... Right?

  
"Gossiping is not okay", she answered instead.

  
_"You are correct. Gossiping is not the correct term, since it is often based in lies to hurt others. What I could offer you, I guess, is what some people call... 'intel'. Information. Secrets spoken in my midst, that I will gladly carry to you."_

  
"...Why?", She asked with a deep frown. "Why would you do that? What would I need them for?"

  
_"That's a very good question, little one! May I have your name before answering?"_

  
Ada jerked at that. She knew she wasn't supposed to tell her name to strangers, but... Something about the voice, about what it said, it felt... Legit.

  
"My name is Ada."

  
_"Ah, what a lovely name! Well, Ada, as for your first question: I have already told you. Nobody has listened to me in a very, very long time, and I have been very lonely. I will gladly provide you with what little I have if that means you will talk to me."_

  
"Oh...", Ada abandoned her weary behaviour. "I am so sorry that you have been alone..."

  
The Wind chuckled softly.

  
_"It's alright, my dear. And as for your second question: you could use it for whatever you want! Who knows what you will need in the future? For example, right now, I could tell you were your siblings are hiding!"_

  
Ada straightened at that.

  
"You could...? But...! That would be cheating!"

  
_"I guess it would",_ the Wind nodded, somehow. " _It's up to you, little one_."

  
She fell silent, thinking about it. She did want to find her siblings, but it would be no fun if she had help.

  
"Just... Point me in a general direction? Please?"

  
A gush of wind blew towards her right, and she sprinted in it without a seconds thought.  
Suddenly a yelp sounded from behind a tree and she could see red hair, trying to hide.  
Barbara must had heard her steps approaching, because she ran away before Ada could get to her. She chased the teen for a while, but she had way longer legs and Ada couldn't run as fast as her or use the terrain at her advantage, so she ended up leaning on her knees, breathing heavily.  
Barbara stopped a few meters away from her, not panting has hard as her, with her arms crossed and a triumphant smile.

  
"Not bad", she encouraged her. "Maybe you will be able to catch me when you grow up."  
Ada did not respond to that, too busy breathing.

  
"Tell you what: if you promise not to catch me, I'll help you catch Dick."  
She looked up at her. It was a good deal since she had the shortest legs. It would be very difficult to catch either of them on her own.

  
"Okay. We have a deal", Ada smirked.  
Barbara returned the smile.

  
"Alright, then, here's the plan..."  
  
"Dick! Dick, oh my god!", Barbara shouted, running towards him. He immediately turned to look at her, taken aback by all the yelling. "Ada has fallen into a pit!"

  
"What?!", He froze for a moment, mind racing. "Where?! Do we need equipment? Where...?!"

  
Ada tackled him from behind, Barbara stepping aside smugly as to not end up at the bottom of the body pile.

  
"Gotcha!!!", She squealed.

  
Dick stood still for a second, processing what had just happened.

  
"Betrayal!!!", He roared. "Dishonour!!! Dishonour on both of you!!!"

  
Barbara and Dick where a few steps ahead on their way to the manor, Dick still complaining about the plot against him and Barbara teasing him, so Ada slowed her pace and turned around to look at the forest.

  
"Uh... Thank you about that", She said to the air, not really expecting an answer.

  
_"You are welcome, little one",_ the Wind replied not a second later. _"Thank you for listening to me"_ , it's voice seemed to smile.

  
Ada smiled too, and was about to leave but she bolted around.

  
"Wind...?"

  
_"Yes?"_

  
"Do you... Do you know why I can hear you? I mean, not everybody can, right?"

  
_"Well, you were listening. So I guess that's why. Hearing and listening are not the same thing."_

  
"But what is the difference between me and those who can't?" She stressed.

  
_"Well, that's not a secret I hold. I can only know what is spoken."_

  
"Uhm...", Ada lowered her eyes.

  
_"Are you... disappointed?_ ", the Wind seemed worried.

  
"Well... I really want to know why am I so different. But it's not your fault if you don't know it either. I guess I will figure it out, someday", she shrugged.

  
"Ada! Are you coming?!" Dick called for her.

  
"Coming!", She shouted back. She turned around, back to talking to nobody. "Uh, well, it's a bit late to say this, but, nice to meet you, Wind. Talk to you soon?"

  
_"I will be looking forward to it, Ada",_ it said, and she could feel it's presence retreating.

  
  
Ada had no idea if she had to keep her conversation with the Wind secret. She really wanted to talk about it, but what was she supposed to say?  
_Hey, dad, today I have talked to the Wind and it's willing to tell me secrets. Do you want me to ask it something?_  
She had heard its voice in her head. Dad took a lot of people to Arkham because they heard voices in their heads.  
She did not want to go to Arkham.  
But she didn't want to keep secrets from Bruce.  
But she knew Bruce was kind of obsessed with information, and she didn't want to have him ordering her around every day to ask things to the Wind.  
She would tell him. Eventually.


	11. Watch your words

“Are you done studying, Lady Ada?”

“Yes”, she replied without opening her eyes, laying on the grass of the garden.

“Well, that’s weird, since your text books are still where I hid them two days ago.”

_Ups._

“Oh… I thought you meant the OTHER studying”, she rolled on her stomach, looking at Alfred with wide, guilty eyes.

“I did not”, he hummed, turning around. “I suggest you get to it as soon as possible.”

“But…! I have already studied today…!”

The butler sighed, turning to face her.

“That is no excuse to neglect your studies, dear.”

“But it’s so boring!”, she pouted, sitting up and crossing her legs. “I don’t like it!”

“Do you pretend me to believe that you rather spend your day reading criminal records and crime scene reports, Lady Ada?”, Alfred deadpanned.

She hushed at that, lowering her eyes in shame and biting her lip in frustration.

“It’s just…! I don’t feel like I’m ever going to use whatever I learn about language, or history, or maths, or chemistry, or physics, or…! Anything…!”

“All that you have listed is important to know; even more if you aspire to accompanying Master Bruce on his patrols.”

“I know!”, she shouted, and that was the sign of true frustration in her.

“Do not raise your voice at me, young Lady”, Alfred pinned her with a severe look.

Ada whined, eyes stinging and legs itching to run away.

She pressed her hands on her eyes, teeth bared in helplessness in front of the swirl of emotions inside her. Ada got up on shaky legs and turned around.

“Ada, you can’t just run away every time something you don’t like happens!”

She froze.

_She couldn’t…  leave…?_

She started hyperventilating.

Alfred’s annoyance and disapproval turned into worry. He kneeled next to her, holding her arms and trying to get her to look at him.

“Lady Ada, please, you have to calm down…”, he tried.

Ada turned her face to the sky and screamed.

It was a hysterical, high-pitched screech that refused to die. She screamed and screamed until Alfred could barely hear himself, until Dick and Bruce came running and tried to get her to calm down to no avail: Bruce’s presence was not enough, Dick’s hugs and kind touches were useless, and she was past the age of stopping crying in exchange for an offering.

“What happened?!”, Bruce managed to make himself hear over Ada’s screams.

Alfred took him by the sleeve and dragged him a few meters away.

“We were talking!”, he still had to shout. “She didn’t want to do her homework! She got upset and wanted to leave, so I told her she couldn’t do that! Then she started screaming!”

Bruce whirled around and got back to Ada.

“Ada!”, he called her. “Ada, it’s okay, you CAN leave!”

She suddenly met his eyes, and the screaming ceased for half a second, before her eyes darted to Alfred and it started again.

“Alfred! You have to tell her!”

The butler stood still for only a second before reacting and throwing himself to his knees.

“Ada, I am sorry! You can leave, you hear me? You can leave!”

The screaming ceased altogether.

She was trembling violently, reddened eyes and face completely wettened by tears, gasping for air.

They all looked at her in silence for a long moment, Dick resting a hand on her shoulder in support. Ada attempted to dry her face with her hands, letting out a miserable whine before pulling away from her brother and stumbling away from them, towards the manor’s gate.

“Ada”, Bruce called. “Ada, I don’t think it’s a good idea that you leave, now”, he was trying to be supporting, but he saw the way she flinched when he implied that he wanted her to stay. He sighed, helplessness clenching at his chest. “Can I least…? Can I least accompany you for a while?”, he prompted, kneeling down on the grass to be closer to her eye-level. “I promise I will turn around whenever you ask me to, I just… I just don’t want you to be alone. It doesn’t have to be me, it can be Dick, if you want…”

“No”, she answered, turned only half way to look at him. Bruce was about to back-pedal when she continued: “It’s okay”, she mumbled, stretching a hand towards him.

He had to make an effort to not get up too fast. Bruce took her hand and they both walked away and into the forest.

 

He had expected for Ada to take him for a long walk, maybe try to disorientate him before revealing him some kind of improvised den, something along the lines of a small cave stuffed with blankets or a quite poorly done tree-house. Instead, they walked for a few minutes before Ada shook off his hand and sat down against a young tree, still sniffling.

Bruce stood for a moment, looking down at her before carefully sitting down too.

“I’m sorry”, she gasped. “I’m sorry… I was very scared…”

“Because Alfred told you you couldn’t leave?”, he asked softly.

Ada nodded and hiccupped.

“Why did that scare you that much?”

“Y-you told me I could go back to the forest!”, she sobbed. “But then Alfred said I couldn’t and I thought he wouldn’t let me and I…! I…!”, her voice broke and she hid beneath the hood of her green hoodie, wailing miserably.

Bruce rested a hand on her back, stroking her gently, waiting for her to calm down.

“Alfred is right”, she mused, now breathing mostly fine. “I can’t… I can’t just leave whenever I am upset, right?”

The man took a moment to answer.

“Well. You do can. But maybe you shouldn’t.”

There was a long pause. Maybe he was waiting for her to say something, but her thoughts were racing too fast to voice anything.

“You are still very young, Ada. I think it is normal that your choice for when things go wrong is to flee. Sometimes, fleeing is wiser than fighting. But did today’s situation require any of those?”

“…No”, she admitted.

“You can leave if you want to, Ada. But before doing so, always ask yourself: do I need to? Is it the best solution?”, she could feel his gaze on her, attentive.

“…Okay”, she nodded. “I… I do not need to leave right now”, she got up, still half-hidden under her green hood. “I will… apologise to Alfred and Dick. For screaming.”

Bruce nodded slowly, trying his best to give her an encouraging smile and getting up to take her hand.

 

“I am sorry that I yelled at you. You are right and I have to do my homework but I was upset and you told me I couldn’t leave and I was scared that you would never let me go. That’s why I screamed. I’m sorry”, her apology was messy and she couldn’t bring herself to look at Alfred in the eyes, but the butler was pleased that she hadn’t made one of her disappearances.

“It’s fine, Lady Ada. I forgive you. I am sorry that I scared you. I did raise my voice, too, and I am deeply sorry for that.”

Ada seemed startled by the last addition, eyes going wide and blinking in surprise.

“Uh… I forgive you, too”, she muttered, still holding on one of Bruce’s hands.

“Thank you, Lady Ada”, he smiled softly. “I have made some chocolate biscuits. You can have some of them before dinner, if you’d like. Master Dick must be already there.”

“Oh!”, she exclaimed, her uneasy mood being forgotten. “Thanks!”, and she disappeared down the hallway.

The two men stood there until they couldn’t hear her footsteps anymore, and looked at each other.

“That scream was inhuman.”

“I know”, Bruce quickly said. “I know.”

He turned around and left for the cave. Alfred sighed heavily. If his Master chose to ignore the issue, he wouldn’t be the one to push it into him.


	12. Calling of the Moon

It was late at night. Ada had woken up suddenly, with a buzzing she had never felt before inside her chest that urged her to get up and open the window.

The cold night air made her flinch, but she still leaned over the window, looking around, wondering what was it that she had to notice.

Nothing suspicious around the garden. Nobody was trying to sneak in. Her eyes rose to the sky: its stars and the darkness from beyond, and they finally rested on the moon, unable to move from it.

“Wind”, she whispered.

_“Yes?”_ , it answered immediately.

“What’s up with the moon? Why is it so pretty today?”

_“Today there’s a Blue Moon. I have heard the Witches of the West mention that it is an excellent night to perform spells and enchant objects.”_

“What kind of spells?”, she asked, gaze still fixated on the moon.

_“Any kind, I think. I am no expert, but I have heard sorcerers conjure good and bad luck upon people for the duration of months; a witch once collected the Moon’s tear drops and used it to cure an ailing child from a deathly sickness; a magician turned their offender into a cockroach, and the tiny thing still wanders through the Earth, unable to die and unable to do anything a human could… All kinds of magic benefit from the Blue Moon. The werewolves are meant to be excited tonight, too.”_

“Can I…? Can I perform spells?”, she asked cautiously.

_“Well, I haven’t heard anyone say you could, but that does not mean you can’t. Why? Do you feel an urge to do something?”_

“I think… I think I do”, she nodded, troubled. “But… I don’t know if I should do it…”

_“Why not?”_

“Maybe dad wouldn’t like it…”

_“Huh. I do not want to be the one to mislead you, but… Your dad doesn’t have to know. You don’t even know if something is about to happen. Maybe nothing will happen at all. Maybe all your going to do is go for a walk under the moonlight. You are allowed to do that, aren’t you?”_

“Yes…”

_“Then, I would go. You aren’t hurting anybody.”_

Ada was already in the hallway, closing her door slowly as to not wake up Dick, who was sleeping just opposite her room. She sneaked her way to the entrance and carefully took down her white jacket and her favourite black boots.

The main door was closed as silently as it could be, and the little girl let out a sight of relieve, turning around and hopping down the steps.

The wind was chilly, but an insistent part of her catalogue it as a minor bother, so she just set eyes on the moon and walked, an unusual feeling urging her to be as near of it as possible encouraging her to walk and walk and walk…

_“Ada, you are going to get wet if you keep going”,_ the Wind warned her, and it was only then that she realised that there was a lake before her.

Strange. The nearest lake to Wayne Manor was still hours away by foot.

That thought was plummeted to oblivion when she realised the moon reflected perfectly on the water’s surface, and she clapped and giggled in excitement.

She could feel the Wind watching with interest, but it didn’t bother her. The Wind was always kind, so she was kind to it, and so it was kind to her, and so on.

She looked up, at the real moon, and she…

Jumped.

Clapped.

Hopped.

Spun around.

Mimicked the waves.

Rose her arms slowly, in clumsy movements with near to zero grace, but she still went on, performing for the moon with a satisfied smile on her face.

She didn’t notice the creatures that came to watch her improvised dance, not their amusement or surprise at seeing her. When she was done and turned around, too tired to keep up, they were all gone.

Ada panted slightly, tired but happy for following the Wind’s advice. She hadn’t performed any spell, but she had had fun.

She sighed, breathing in the air of the night, and turned around to head back to bed.

She blinked in surprise when not after a minute of walking she found herself right in front of the manor. She glanced behind her. In the few steps she had taken, there sure wasn’t a lake where it should have been.

Not really knowing what do to with that information, she entered the house, got rid of her jacket and boots and returned to bed.


	13. Training Wheels

“You can do it, sis! Only three lifts more!”, Dick shouted encouragingly. Next to him, Barbara cheered.

They were all in the Cave, supervising the start of Ada’s work out. Bruce stood close to her, making sure she didn’t strain herself too much. Alfred had just left, promising to prepare some reward sandwiches for when she was done.

Ada felt like dying.

She made a noise of effort and discomfort, pulling down at the handles to lift the weight one more time. She huffed loudly. Just two more. Two more lifts.

She had done great at the endurance test. She had started sprinting and they had had to calm her down, pointing out that the objective was to run for as long as possible.

She had run for two hours. Non-stop. And the only reason they had stopped the test was because they were all getting kinda bored and there was still work to be done.

But the weight lifting. Oh, the weight lifting. Ada did have some muscle mass, but not near enough.

She struggled, lifting the weight one more time.

“You almost got it!”, Barbara clapped.

With a last groan, Ada lifted it for the final time. She had the politeness to lower it slowly before releasing the handles and sighing in relief.

“You did it!!!”

“Congrats!!!”

She laughed weakly at the encouragement.

Bruce observed her for a moment. She surely didn’t look eager to push herself further.

“You did good”, he nodded to her.

Ada smiled and tried to hide her flushed cheeks to no avail.

“How long until I have the right amount of muscle?”, she asked.

“It’s not about the amount, but the quality. I don’t think you will ever have the kind of built as I or Dick is going to have, but you can still strengthen them.”

“Like me!”, Barbara jumped, walking over to offer an arm to her.

Ada poked it with a finger, and yeah, it was surely hard.

“So… I guess I will be doing this for a while”, she mussed.

“Keep up with the fifteen-kilogram lifting for a couple weeks. About one-hundred lifts per day. Don’t look at me like that, you don’t have to do them consecutively. Come to me when you are done and we will talk about adding weight or doing more repetitions.”

“That’s it?”, she asked with a raised eyebrow. “That’s all the training I’m going to do? No batarangs? No driving?”

“Well, you surely don’t need endurance training. You need to strengthen your arms to have an accurate aim. And… you don’t reach the pedals. Of anything.”

Barbara snorted loudly at that, and Dick covered his mouth with a hand, but his face was red.

Ada glanced angrily at them.

“Dick, don’t laugh! You are short, too!”

“I’m not short!”, he replied. “Besides, I will be shooting up soon.”

“That’s no excuse! You do have a bike, so you reach the pedals, meaning you”, she continued, turning to Bruce, “made a bike which pedals he reaches! So you can make one for me too!”

They stared at each other for a moment.

“You are too young.”

Ada huffed angrily, crossing her arms in displeasure.

Bruce sighed, not knowing exactly how to respond to that.

“Okay”, she mumbled instead. “I understand.”

He was quite surprised of that. And relieved. He ruffled her hair with a faint smile before turning around and going upstairs.

“Where’s your bike?”, Ada spoke quickly, trotting to the parking zone.

Dick jerked upright, getting up from the crate where he had been sitting to follow her.

“Wait, wait, wait! Bruce said no driving!”

“I won’t drive! I just want to sit on it. See if I reach the pedals!”, she smirked, not slowing down.

The two elders exchanged a glance before following her. Ada didn’t have any trouble finding Robin’s bike, but she still waited for her siblings to arrive before climbing on it.

“How does it work?”, she asked, kicking her feet against the pedals, which she totally reached.

“Don’t do that”, Dick quickly said. Ada stopped her kicking, swinging her legs instead. He walked closer, regaining his usual cheerfulness. “Well, you have the brakes on the handles. This pedal is the gas, and this one the clutch. It’s a bit tricky, but once you get the hand of it… Here are the front lights, and it has a screen with GPS.”, he pointed around.

Barbara leaned closer, watching Ada’s eyes dart from side to side. She already knew where this was going. Ada glanced at her, pointed at Dick with her eyes, then looked at her again.

 _What do you think?_ , she was asking.

Barbara shrugged minutely, a tiny smile on her face: _I dunno. I think we can convince him_ , she replied.

Ada nodded slightly and turned to stare at her brother, who was still pointing at some parts of the bike, oblivious to the silent conversation.

When he finally rose his eyes, he fell prey to Ada’s puppy eyes:

“Teach me? Please?”

Dick froze for a second before regaining some semblance of composure with a sigh.

“I can’t, Ada. Bruce said it to keep you safe. Right, Babs…?”

When he turned around and saw the look on the girl’s face, he knew he had been set up.

“Oh, come on, Dickie! It’s not gonna hurt anybody if she knows how to drive! After all, she DOES reach the pedals”, she smiled mischievously before taking the bike’s keys from behind her back and dangling them in Ada’s reach. “We will be your training wheels.”


	14. Leslie Thompkins

“Aunt Leslie!”, Ada greeted cheerfully.

“Hello, sweetheart”, the woman answered softly, accepting her hug. “How have you been?”

“Training! And you?”

“Oh, you know. Busy with work. Is Bruce around here? I need to speak to him.”

“Master Bruce is in his study, Doctor Thompkins. I would be grateful if he weren’t to be disturbed”, Alfred said, walking into the hall.

Ada had picked up the habit of racing to open the door before him, though she always stopped to check up who was knocking before opening the door.

“It will only be a moment”, she said, and walked past them.

The little girl trotted behind her.

“Has something happened?”, she asked with worry.

“Nothing you have to worry about, dear. It’s grown-up stuff”, she flashed her a smile.

Ada’s brow furrowed.

“Can I come anyways?”

“Yeah, sure.”

She reached for her hand and took it, staring forward despite feeling the woman’s gaze on her.

Ada knew of her struggle. The Wind had told her about the argument she and dad had had: Leslie yelling at him for allowing a child to hover her hand over his wounds during surgery, for allowing her to see that kind of horror at all. She… had not known how to react to that. Sure: she didn’t like seeing dad or Dick or Barbara injured, but as long as she could get to them and heal them, she was alright. Of course there was that heavy weight on her chest, that fear, when some wound looked uglier than a scratch. Once she puked when Dick came into the Cave with a broken leg, the bone sticking out of it. That had been the night when she had met Leslie, as her magic did nothing to reset the bone.

Yes, okay, she had panicked a bit when it didn’t work.

But she was okay now. Really.

They finally arrived at the study’s door. Leslie knocked loudly, Ada swinging on her feet and glancing around, looking for a distraction for her already bored mind. She yelped when the woman pulled her in, not waiting for a response.

“Hello, Leslie”, Bruce greeted, not taking his eyes off the screen. “Give me a minute.”

He looked tired, Ada thought. She betted he had not even slept four hours today. She walked silently to him and waited for him to turn away from his computer. He startled a bit upon noticing her, proof of his tiredness. Ada reached out and held his hand, tiny fingers wrapping his calloused knuckles.

There was a long moment of silence where the adults just watched Ada do her thing.

Bruce cleared his throat.

“What do you need to talk about?”

“I need your help to set up a charity event”, Leslie replied.

The man nodded, a minute sigh of relief escaping his lips as he bended over to pick up Ada and sit her on his lap. She leaned on him, and he allowed her to play with his fingers as Leslie and him started talking over details of the event. Ada listened carefully, asking questions every now and then.

“Who will be the guests?”

“Important people”, Bruce said.

“Do we know them?”

“Not personally.”

“Then why are we inviting them home?”, she asked, and there was clear annoyance in her voice.

“Because we are preparing a charity event, and we need to throw a party so they will give money to our cause.”

“You shouldn’t invite strangers in”, she muttered darkly.

“What are we going to do with you, anyways?”, Leslie asked. “The press doesn’t know about Ada. Are you going to officially adopt her before the gala, or hide her in a room for a whole afternoon?”

Bruce tensed at that. Ada didn’t understand why.

“I… I do not want her to be in the spotlight.”

“What’s the press? Are they paparazzi?”, the little girl asked, looking up at him.

“Yes.”

“Then I don’t want to be in the spotlight either”, she grumbled.

“No official adoption, then”, Leslie nodded. “Pity. I’m sure the elite would swoon over you.”

Ada made a weird face at that. She recoiled only at the thought of strangers swarming around her.

“Does it have to be at home? I don’t like the idea”, she pouted.

“I have held charity events before. Everything will be alright. Will you stay in your room when it takes place?”, Bruce reassured her.

“Will Dick stay with me?”

“No, Dick will have to stay with me and the guests.”

Ada pouted harder.

“And Alfred?”

“He will be overlooking the extra service we will be hiring.”

Ada whined.

“Come on, don’t do this to me. I know you can entertain yourself for a few hours.”

“But you will be with strangers!”, she insisted.

“So what?”

“They could be dangerous!”

“I assure you, they are not”, and he chuckled softly at that.

That act was so rare that it actually calmed her down a bit.

“Okay. But there will be security, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you will call if something goes wrong, right?”

“Of course.”

“Right. Okay. Gala. When will it be?”, she asked, relaxing back into Bruce.

“I will write the official statement and send it over to you to modify or sign”, said Leslie. “See you soon. Take care”, she bid farewell, turning around and closing the door behind her.

“Bye, Aunt Leslie!”, Ada waved.

She stayed on Bruce’s lap, still stroking his fingers.

“Why don’t you go play outside, Ada? I have some work to do…”

“But you are very tired”, she protested.

“I still have work to do.”

“You should sleep more.”

“Ada”, he said in a warning tone.

“How am I angering you? I’m just saying the truth.”

Bruce sighed yet again, but did not answer that.

“Do you want to take a nap with me?”, she asked before he could come up with anything.

“Alright. But only ten minutes.”

“Sure”, Ada nodded with a mischievous smile that he could not see.

She guided him to the nearest coach and waited for him to settle down, only to position herself over him. Ten minutes later, when he woke up, Ada faked being deeply asleep, trapping him there for a two-hour long nap.

When he woke up again, he was lucid enough to notice that her breathing was not the one of a sleeping person.


	15. Hummingbird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ada gets her code name

“Damn!”

“Language”, Alfred scolded her, but Ada truly believed she had a good reason to swear, and that he would swear too if she weren’t there.

None of them had averted their gaze from the live-feed sent from Batman’s cowl, showing Poison Ivy’s latest rampage through the city.

Gargantuan plants were breaking the pavement as they grew, flourishing and unfolding petals covered in sharp teeth. They attacked the buildings around them and dived towards the ground, trying to get to Batman, Batgirl and Robin. Half of the civilians were screaming and running away, while the other half walked towards the vigilantes with almost dead eyes, probably controlled by Ivy’s spores. Ada’s siblings were trying to fight them off to make room for Batman to get to Ivy.

She curled on the chair, Alfred gripping its back behind her.

The metahuman was surrounded by the giant flowers, which made difficult for Batman to reach her. At the moment he was testing their stems, throwing explosive batarangs to locate the weakest spots, while dodging their sharp teeth.

Ada had kind of got used to the tension. Maybe it was a bad thing to do, but she just… disassociated. As if what she was seeing wasn’t true. She looked at whatever was happening, and it only became a problem if somebody was bleeding when they got here.

That illusion was shattered to pieces when a cloud of spores (or pollen, who knew…) bleared the vision of the camera. The same kind of particles that had turned the citizens into plant-zombies.

“Fuck”, she breathed, and leapt out of the chair before Alfred could process that she knew that word.

She ran to the armoury and grabbed one of Robin’s spare belts and domino masks, buckling the belt like a bandana and smashing the mask on her face.

“Lady Ada! What do you think you are doing?!”, Alfred shouted, but he didn’t move from his spot.

His eyes widened impossibly in realization when Ada reached for her brother’s motorbike keys and plucked them into place, revving the engine.

“I’m going to help!”, she shouted back, not giving him time to chase her.

 

She, luckily, didn’t run into too much traffic. It got tricky as she got closer to the commotion, the road littered with abandoned vehicles that she dodged slowly, not knowing if it would be wiser to leave behind the bike or take it with her for as long as she could in case she needed to run.

To be honest, she didn’t really know what she was doing. Maybe, just maybe, she had gotten ahead of herself. It didn’t really matter, now.

The path was now completely blocked, with no way of squishing the bike through, so Ada dropped it and climbed up the barrier of cars to get to the other side. She jumped from vehicle to vehicle, deciding a high ground might do her some good. She could duck to hide at any time if she needed it. In the meanwhile, she looked around wildly, eyes never staying on the same object for too long. Dad always told her to stay vigilant, because in Gotham there could be trouble at any corner.

She wasn’t paying much attention to the roofs, too busy with the back alleys and house portals.

The not-so-little girl (she was already nine, after all), finally turned another corner and found herself lined up with the city’s newest mess. She took a deep breath, getting ready for a sprint and whatever came later, when a figure dropped behind her and pulled her back.

Ada yelped and trashed, but whoever had grabbed her put her down almost immediately. She turned around, snarling, and was greeted by a slim black figure.

“Oh”, she mouthed, all aggression replaced with slight cluelessness.

“Do you know who I am?”, she purred.

She didn’t answer right away. “…Yes.”

“Good”, Catwoman nodded. “Then I presume you are with Bat?”

Ada nodded.

The woman seemed to laugh with her eyes: “What a tiny bird you are. Not big enough to be a robin. You could only be a hummingbird. Yeah, I’m going to call you that.”

She frowned at that, but decided not to comment on it.

“Why have you stopped me?”, she asked instead, annoyance clear in her voice.

“You were going to just run straight into that mess.”

“Yeah.”

“And you don’t see the problem?”

“No? I just want to help!”

“You won’t be helping anyone by just running around”, she wasn’t raising her voice, but Ada felt like she was being scolded. She fidgeted, not having a good answer to defend herself.

“…I know”, she admitted. “Can you help me to get to dad?”, she asked with big, imploring eyes.

Selina tensed slightly at her stare.

“For what?”, she questioned, composing herself.

“I… I can heal”, Ada explained, turning the palm of her hand upwards and letting the tiny spheres emerge from it. “Maybe I can get rid of the spores controlling the people.”

Cat crouched down and took the small hand in hers, studying it carefully for a moment.

“You take care of him?”, she asked softly, eyes lowered.

“Yeah”, Ada breathed, staring at her own hand before trying to make eye contact again.

The woman sighed minutely, finally meeting her gaze.

“How sure of this are you?”

“Uh…”, was all Ada was capable of answering.

Another sigh, this one somewhere between exasperated and amused.

“So we are betting it all to hope, huh?”

Ada shrugged.

Catwoman stood.

“Okay, I will help you get there. But if you try whatever you do and it doesn’t work, I want you to run away, immediately. Am I understood?”

“Yes!”, she replied automatically.

“Alright. Can you get on the roofs by your own?”, she asked, pointing at the belt hanging of Ada’s shoulder.

“Uh… I have never used the grappling hooks. Only in training.”

“We better not risk you getting hurt. Hold on to me”, she said, crouching down again.

Ada held tight with her arms around Catwoman’s neck and legs locked around her hips as she climbed the nearest building easily, despite carrying her.

They had a way better view of the situation from there. There were five of the gargantuan flowers settled in a defensive position around Poison Ivy. The controlled civilians plus Batman were swarming on Batgirl and Robin, who were barely holding on. Ivy seemed to be enjoying the show, with her back on Selina and Ada.

“My siblings!”, Ada whisper-shouted. “We have to help them!”, she urged, tugging at Cat’s costume.

“We will. If we take down Ivy, it’s very probable that the control spores will lose effect.”

“So? What’s the plan?”

“Get off”, she said, but the command wasn’t harsh, so Ada did as she was told. “Now I go to take out Ivy, and you stay here, without attracting any undesired attention and safe.”

“But…!”, she started protesting, but Catwoman was already leaping off the roof.

Ada huffed. Dick and Barbara where at the opposite side of the place where Ivy had barricaded herself. If she wanted a chance to get to them safely, she would have to jump through the surrounding roofs.

And she did. She took a little run and jumped. And again, and again, hiding behind vents and entrances. She moved fairly quickly. Three-quarters of the way there, she heard and outraged scream, and turned around to see Ivy throwing Cat towards the mob.

So much for a sneak attack.

Selina rolled painfully on the pavement, and Ada winced. Batman broke from the siege to Robin and Batgirl to near her.

The girl gasped, rummaging through the belt pouches. She found the grappling hook and secured it manually to a vent to rappel down the building she was on, less than ten meters away from the adults. She arrived at ground-level undetected, and sneaked her way to Batman without any plant-zombie noticing.

Once there, she hesitated.

What should she do? Ada didn’t want to hurt Bruce, didn’t KNOW if she could hurt Bruce, _Probably not_ , the most rational part of her mind laughed at her; but if she didn’t do anything, he would hurt Selina.

“Dad!”, she yelped.

He turned around slowly. Too slowly. Ada stepped back by instinct, but forced herself to stand her ground.

Batman stepped towards her.

“Humm…”, Selina gasped, sitting up on the floor. “Leave…”

“No”, she answered, despite the fear in her voice. “Dad, stop! Look at me! You can fight this!”

His jaw tensed, but he kept advancing.

“Let me help you!”, Ada tried again, biting back a whine.

He lifted her into the air, grabbing at the neck of her violet hoodie.

“Bruce! Let her go!”, Cat shouted, struggling to put her legs beneath her.

Ada trashed, kicking her legs and grabbing at the Bat’s hands, whimpering.

He pulled her towards him, and they were face to face.

She was so, so scared. In a burst of panic, she screamed, tears flooding her face…

…and she slapped him.

It was a thunderous slap: hand wide open, enough force to make him turn his face.

Luminescent spheres were flown into his skull and exited at the other side, floating innocently towards the sky.

It felt like the world stilled at the noise.

Ada went back to trashing wildly as Batman slowly turned his head to her.

She could perfectly tell the moment he regained control: the way his eyes widened minutely, the guilt tensing his jaw, the effort he made to unclench his teeth and control the anger that surely blazed inside him.

He lowered her quickly to the ground.

“Are you okay?”, he asked, voice a tad too harsh.

“Y-Yeah”, she nodded, drying tears with her sleeves and sniffling.

He turned around, but Selina was already up and hissing at Poison Ivy, who was watching them intently.

Behind them, the plant-zombies had gone completely still, finally giving some breathing room to Batgirl and Robin, who took the chance and weaselled out of the center of the mob.

“What’s. This”, grumbled Poison Ivy, narrowing her eyes.

The giant flowers angled themselves towards them, ready to strike.

Batman looped an arm around Ada to push her out of the way, but she used one of the moves he had recently taught her to slip past it and darted forwards before he could grab her with his other arm, stepping out of his reach, past Catwoman, towards the plants and Ivy.

She did not have a plan. All she wanted was her family to not get hurt.

“NO!!!”, she heard her dad’s desperate scream behind her.

On instinct, Ada stopped and raised her arms to protect herself, closing her eyes and ducking her head.

The impact never came.

Another defying silence filled the city.

She opened her eyes and lowered her arms slowly.

The five flowers hovered gently around her at a respectful distance. The girl stared at them with clear confusion. Slowly, the flowers started curling, hiding their teeth.

“What are you doing?!”, Ivy screamed from behind them. “Why won’t you attack?!”

Ada looked at her. The woman was clearly trying to get the plants to do something, and they jerked a little every time she stretched her arms towards them, but they did not attack.

She looked back at the curled petals, and reached out. The closest one hovered towards it and brushed it gently in a feather-like touch.

“Thank you”, she said to it, out of the blue.

With a final brush, the plants slithered their way into the tunnels they had formed, and disappeared.

Ada stared at the hand that the flower had touched, only vaguely hearing Ivy’s enraged screams. She was aware that two tall dark figures sped past her, but she couldn’t bring herself to keep track of them.

She only snapped out of it at the feeling of a hand resting on her shoulder, gasping in alarm.

“It’s me”, Robin said, lunging forwards to hug her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah…”, she breathed, still confused, but not hurt. “I’m fine. You?”

“Exhausted”, he laughed tiredly. “But glad that you are alright.”

Batgirl stepped closer from where she had stood, offering a hug of her own.

“Alfred called us”, she started, and Ada gulped. “You gave him the scare of the century. We couldn’t go to find you and we needed him to stay in the Cave.”

“I’m sorry”, she whispered, ducking her head.

The teen sighed.

“It’s not me who you have to apologize to.”

Ada nodded slowly and turned around; where Batman and Catwoman had handcuffed and sedated Ivy. She frowned at that and took a step towards them, but Barbara grabbed at her wrist and tugged her back.

“You have already run away today. Stay here, or you’ll get in trouble”, she advised.

Ada wanted to protest, but when she turned around Cat and Bat where already back to them, forming a wall of black.

“So… you have met”, Batman said.

Selina and Ada looked at each other.

“You didn’t tell me you have gotten yourself a Hummingbird, Bat”, the woman giggled.

All eyes fell on Ada.

“I’m not that small”, she mused.

“No, but surely you will become a fast, mysterious fighter”, she nodded to herself. “I will take Ivy to the police. You go and put your kids to bed, Bat”, she purred, already walking away.

Ada leaned to a side to watch her go.

They all stood in silence for a moment.

“Can I meet with her again?”, the girl asked to her father.

He wasn’t expecting that question.

“I’m sure you will meet one day, once you are cleared for patrol.”

Which translated to: _Sure, but you are totally grounded for going out when still not allowed to_.

“Okay”, she sighed.

“But hey! It’s your first time! And you got a name! If you want to keep it, of course”, Robin jumped in, trying to lighten the mood.

Ada smiled.

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s been nice. Hummingbird. Yeah”, she mused.

“You do know you don’t have to keep it if you don’t want it, right? Catwoman doesn’t have any right to name you”, Batgirl stressed.

Ada turned again in the direction the woman had left.

“I like it. And, for some reason, I feel like she does.”

She did not elaborate further.


	16. Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not explained in-story, just assume Ada's birthday is the day she met Bruce in the forest

Ada hadn’t slept at all. She had just laid in bed all night, waiting for the sun to raise. She was using all of her willpower to stay in her room, to not get up…

The clock finally marked her waking time, and she leapt out of bed and sprinted to the kitchen with a wide smile on her face.

“Happy birthday, Lady Ada”, Alfred smiled as she came through the door.

“Happy birthday, Ada!!!”, Dick was throwing his hands into the air, still holding a cream dispenser and kneeling on a chair with an almost done peach pie in front of him.

Bruce was at his side, sipping from his coffee.

“Happy birthday, Ada.”

“Thank you!!!”, she replied, smile growing wider and bright eyes at the sight of the pie.

They sat at the table and ate the pie all together, even Alfred. Once finished, Dick and Ada went off to play, and Alfred and Bruce went to rest by order of the birthday girl.

At the afternoon, Barbara and Leslie came by to congratulate her and eat some more pie.

“I brought you a present!”, Barbara said, pulling out a box, and they all sat on the couches.

“Thank you!”, Ada took it and teared the paper to shreds, eager to see what was it.

She peeked inside the box and gasped softly at what was in it, shooting her hands into it to grab the present.

She pulled out a black hoodie with Batgirl’s symbol in it.

“You don’t have to use it if you don’t like it, I just thought it would be fun to…”, she was quick to explain herself, but Ada was already wearing it with stars in her eyes.

“I love it!”, she squeaked.

“Now open mine!”, Dick bashed in front of her and set a wrapped amorphous figure in her hands.

The paper was teared down, revealing a deer plushie.

“Awww!”, Ada yelped, hugging it tightly. “Thanks, Dick!”

Leslie slipped her a rectangular package. Ada tucked the deer under her arm and opened it, displaying a box of crayons and a colouring book.

“Thanks, auntie!”, she smiled, getting up to give her a quick hug.

When she returned to her seat, Alfred handed her another box.

It contained a new pair of mountain boots, to replace the worn down that Ada had been wearing for the past two months. She examined them attentively, letting out a pleasant hum and swinging her legs happily.

“Thank you, Al! I will use them a lot!”

“Of that I am sure, Lady Ada”, he nodded with a small smile.

There was a moment of silence as everybody looked at Bruce.

He sighed, as if reading himself to do something, and pulled out a small box from behind his back.

Ada took it slowly, wondering what it was. She couldn’t think of any kind of present with that size, not wider than her two hands but not small enough to fit in one.

She lifted the cover and gasped before freezing. Her eyes shot to meet Bruce’s.

“Take it. It’s for you”, he smiled, gesturing for the box.

The girl gulped, slowly raising a hand to pick up what was inside with infinite care.

She found herself with a blue-green domino mask in her hands, shaped like a hummingbird’s wings.

“The rest is in the Cave”, he continued.

There was a very awkward moment of silence as Ada did absolutely nothing, despite the excitement that Barbara and Dick were irradiating.

Then she started crying.

All the room tensed.

Leslie and Alfred were guiltily glad to think that maybe she was too scared to take on an official role in the “night business”, while Bruce was having an inwards meltdown trying to think in what way he had messed up.

“What’s wrong?”, Dick finally asked, resting a hand on her shoulder.

Ada sniffed.

“I’m just so happy…!”, she sniffed again, drying her tears with the back of her hand and gently putting the mask on her eyes. “How do I look?”

“Awesome!”, Dick smiled widely.

“Let’s check out the rest of the suit!”, Barbara clapped, getting up.

All the kids ran off, Ada with the deer plushie still under her arm, but she staggered before leaving the room and turned around, dashing into Bruce and planting a kiss to his cheek.

“Thanks, dad! I love it!”, she said, gracing him with one of her most brilliant smiles before running after her siblings.

“Happy tenth birthday, Ada”, he whispered softly.


	17. The Justice League

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hummingbird and her siblings are introduced to the leaguers

“I am taking you to meet the Justice League”, was all Batman said, and the three children fell silent in shock.

“What?”, Robin blurted out, visibly excited.

Batgirl gasped in anticipation.

Hummingbird fidgeted and lowered her head, stroking her blue-green suit absentmindedly. It didn’t have any kind of symbol in it, and Ada had decided to leave it like that.

“I expect a professional behaviour from all of you”, he continued.

The Wind chuckled around Ada.

“ _He is expecting what? From kids?_ ”, it laughed harder.

She pressed her lips together, supressing a snort.

“Please, don’t make this harder for me”, she whispered.

“What?”, Barbara asked, turning her head around to look at her.

“Nothing, nothing. Where… are we meeting?”

“The Watchtower.”

Another stunned silence.

“No way!!!”, Robin exclaimed gleefully.

“Finally!!!”, Batgirl grinned, “We are going to space, Humm! SPACE!!!”

The youngest didn’t look excited at all, shoulders dropped and twitchy eyes.

“It is perfectly safe, Ada”, Batman soothed. “I have checked it myself.”

She sighed deeply, trying to calm herself down, “…Okay. Okay.”

“ _I will be waiting for you_ ”, the Wind bid farewell.

Hummingbird frowned under her mask, thinking why would the Wind do that if it was always around her and she was just going… Oh. She was going to Space. Where there is no Wind.

The man guided them outside, to Gotham’s roofs, and there they waited while Batman commed somebody.

“Brace yourselves”, he said, moving to stand behind the three of them and resting a hand on Ada’s shoulder.

One second they were there, in the dark of the night, and the next they were in a well-lit room.

Hummingbird gasped, clinging to Batman’s wrist.

“You are okay”, he murmured softly, “Everything is fine.”

She breathed deeply, telling herself to believe those words while Robin and Batgirl staggered around, recovering from the teleportation.

“Are you all set?”, the adult asked after a handful of seconds.

The children nodded slowly, notably nervous but stable.

“Let’s go.”

They followed him in silence, observing in the way they had been taught, but also allowing for their childish curiosity to marvel. They were, after all, ones of the few that would ever be allowed to be in the Justice League’s space station and headquarters.

After a short walk through a couple corridors, they got on an elevator, which opened directly at the command center. Several figures turned around when they heard the door open, and the bats scattered in the room, subconsciously standing where Batman could see them all.

And there they stood: Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter and Superman. Introductions on their behalf were not necessary.

“Batman”, Superman nodded in salute.

The argument about Batman training kids had gone by long ago, and somehow, they had all reluctantly agreed to make an effort to keep them safe and teach them everything they may need; or at the very least, know them and stay in contact in case they needed help.

“These are my protegees”, he gestured, “Robin, Batgirl, and Hummingbird.”

“Hello.”

“Hi.”

Ada decided that six strangers was too much and hid under Batman’s cape without a word, clinging to his waist. She heard muffled chuckles and pressed her face against her dad’s back, turning red.

“She feels… overwhelmed”, a deep, calming voice said. She peeked out to see who belonged to, and blinked at Martian Manhunter.

“Hummingbird is not used to crowds. But she is very nice, just… give her time”, Robin excused her.

Ada relaxed, realising that she wasn’t going to be forced to socialize if she didn’t feel like it, and released her grip on Batman, staying under his cape.

She contented herself with watching and listening, thinking about the questions asked and the answers given, happy to see that those adults were treating her siblings with respect.

Slowly, she slid outside of her cover under the kinda amazed eyes of the members of the Justice League, who did their best to not stare at her and disguise that they were watching her as if they were observing a butterfly emerge of its cocoon.

Her eye’s met Wonder Woman’s, and for a second everybody feared that she might hide again, but the warrior was quick to shot her a reassuring smile.

“Hello, sweetheart. How old are you?”

Hummingbird blinked and looked up at Batman for permission to answer.

“We are among allies”, he said, nodding minutely. “You can trust them.”

Green Lantern opened his mouth in an amused expression, probably to make some sassy remark, but was cut short by a nudge from Flash.

“Unknown”, she replied with neutral voice, loud and clear. “We are assuming I am around ten at the moment.”

“You don’t know you age?”, Hawkgirl asked.

Ada stared at her wings for a long second, carving to stroke them.

“I met Bats in the forest when I was younger. I… don’t remember much before meeting him.”

Wonder Woman hummed thoughtfully at that.

“Hummingbird has powers!”, Robin chirped, probably wanting to show off his sister.

“Do you?”, Flash asked, encouraging.

She turned her palm up, and the spheres started to float away from her hands.

“I can heal must injuries, but not complex fractures. I… I need for things to be in place to be able to do anything”, she explained.

“She can also run for very long”, Batgirl pipped up.

“More than two hours”, Robin nodded enthusiastically.

Hummingbird fidgeted.

“You have not asked for our names. Or permission to come in”, Wonder Woman suddenly said, arms crossed and staring down at her.

All the bats tensed, the leaguers stared between them, mostly confused by the princess behaviour. Hummingbird stepped towards Batman, grasping at his cape.

“I… I thought we were invited here. Bats wouldn’t have brought us if we weren’t, right?”, she answered, voice shaking slightly.

“And the names?”, she pressed.

Robin and Batgirl stepped between them, clearly protective of Hummingbird. Behind her, Batman was tense too.

“I-I thought we did not use real names in this business. I thought it would be rude.”

“Diana, what are you…?”, Superman asked, clearly thrown off.

Wonder Woman stared at Ada for a second longer before sighing and relaxing, uncrossing her arms.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry”, she said, kneeling down. The bats relaxed their postures. “That was very rude of me, and I am sorry.”

Hummingbird stepped away from her dad, slowly letting go of him.

“It’s… okay.”

Wonder Woman cleared her throat, as if she was about to say something important:

“My name is none of your business”, she said, loud and clear; and there was no mistaking, no denying the intent in her voice. The sentence echoed in the room for a moment before she proceeded, as if she wanted to make sure it sank in, “I am Diana. Diana Prince of Themyscira.”

Hummingbird’s head jerked in a quick nod.

“Nice to meet you”, was all she said.

The woman smiled at her.

“Are they your siblings, dear?”

“Yes”, Ada answered, with a tiny smile on her face.

“Do you love them?”

“A lot”, she nodded again, her smile widening.

“And you; Robin, Batgirl? Do you love your sister?”

“Of course!”, Robin exclaimed, almost offended.

“I wouldn’t change her for anything in the world. Well, maybe two goats and a cat”, Batgirl answered.

The kids turned to each other, imploding in a micro-world of snorts and stares and barely contained smiles and laughter.

“Then my fears were unfounded”, Diana smiled. “I am certain everything will be alright.”

The adults exchanged some confused looks with a promise to speak about it later.

When the kids were done teasing each other and cracking fart jokes, the atmosphere was good enough to resume their conversations.

Ada got to stroke Hawkgirl’s wings with cautious fingers, gasping at the softness of her feathers and looking up at her with stars in her eyes. Next, she approached the Martian in a bout of boldness.

“Can I touch you?”, she asked, playing with her own fingers and aware that it was a very weird question.

“You can”, he said, revealing the palm of his hand.

Hummingbird slowly reached out and brushed it with the tips of her now gloveless fingers. Her eyes widened as she took in the feeling of his skin. It was… it was different. Her senses assured her it was skin, but it felt a lot more… mobile. The consistency was a bit off. She slid her palm against his, staring, before gently turning his hand and examining its back, stroking it gently and following the knuckles to his wrist.

“This… is not how you usually look. Is it?”, she said suddenly.

He blinked in surprise.

“No”, he admitted. “It’s not.”

“Huh”, she mouthed, but did not press in the matter. “Thank you. For letting me touch you.”

Slowly, slowly and awkward, she gave him a hug. At first it felt like hugging a column and Ada was thinking it had been a bad idea, but then he rested a hand on her back, and she knew the gesture had been accepted and returned, if not in a different fashion.

Green Lantern, of course, decided to show off and construct all kind of stuff. Hummingbird sat on the floor near Batman and watched, admiring the green light in silence and only talking to ask for permission to touch it.

It took all of them a good five minutes to convince her that Superman was, in fact, an alien. Once she was convinced she stared into the distance for ten minutes, before Flash offered to take the kids to the kitchen for some snacks.

She grabbed at Batman’s cave with a worried frown.

“It’s okay”, he said patiently. “You won’t get lost. If you do, we will find you in no time.”

With that, the four of them left.

“Thoughts?”, he said after a moment of silence.

“Definitively a metahuman”, Superman nodded. “She seems like an alright girl.”

“She’s very gentle. I don’t think she would hurt a fly”, said Hawkgirl.

“J’onn?”, Batman asked him directly.

“She was scared at the beginning. Took her a while to get used to our presence, but got more comfortable when we approved her requests and behaviour. I didn’t notice any kind of hostility or ill-intent.”

The man nodded, hiding a sigh of relief.

“Diana?”, he asked.

The woman had been looking away, meditating.

“If you ever want to let her know your names, make sure to say: ‘My name is not of your business’ first. A part from that, she is a fine person, and I am sure you will raise her right.”

“Yeah, about that: it was kinda rude of you”, Green Lantern commented. “What happened?”

“You were afraid of her for a while”, J’onn pointed out.

“Yeah”, she sighed. “Yes, I was. But turns out I didn’t have a reason to”, she turned to look at Batman’s eyes. “I will do everything in my power to help you raise her, Batman. If she needs any kind of training, or you feel like you need to send her to a safe place, I offer Themyscira as sanctuary.”

Batman nodded at that, already thinking.

The kids came back shortly after, and he ushered them back to the teleporter. Hummingbird tried not to seem too eager to get out of there, but they probably noticed.

The leaguers accompanied them there to wave goodbye.

“Grow strong and free, little one”, Diana said solemnly, before the device dropped them in Gotham.

_"Welcome back!"_ , the Wind quickly spoke to her, and amidst its words, that last sentence was pushed to the back of her mind.


	18. Waterfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barbara-Ada bonding time

Alfred settled the plate in front of her, and Ada stared at it suspiciously, not making any move to pick up her fork. With a raised eyebrow, she glanced at Bruce.

They were sat for dinner, and that was not normal. The man usually tried to have lunch with them, but not dinner. He always ate at the Cave, getting ready to leave.

Bruce made a poor attempt at pretending everything was fine, but even Dick was noticing the weird atmosphere and was reluctant to eat.

“What’s the matter?”, she finally asked, suspicion and annoyance clear in her voice.

“Nothing”, he answered immediately.

Ada dipped her head, raising her eyebrow even more.

“Nobody is in trouble”, he clarified quickly, setting down his fork, “I just… wanted to talk to you about something.”

She leaned back on her chair.

“So?”

Bruce, on the other hand, leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and clasping his hands.

“I think you would benefit from meeting new people.”

Ada tensed. Dick was listening in silence, eyes wide.

“No”, she quickly said.

“Ada…”

“NO!”

“Listen to me!”

She crossed her arms and ducked her head, biting down a distressed whimper.

Bruce sighed, making a mental note to lower his voice.

“I’m sorry. Please, listen to what I have to say.”

Her expression relaxed a little bit, but she did not move.

“I don’t want your fear of strangers to become a problem when you grow up. I understand that it scares you and you rather avoid it, but the only way of getting rid of it is to do something about it.”

She was breathing hard, visibly trying to control herself.

“You won’t be alone, Ada. We will start slowly.”

“How?”, she croaked.

“I have thought of two options: we can either sign you up in a group activity, in which Dick or Barbara will accompany you; or you can make a trip to Themyscira, where Diana will be taking care of you”, he made a pause, waiting for a reaction, but she was still frozen. “If you have any other idea, we can try it out too.”

She seemed at the verge of tears, but she was taking deep breaths.

Dick got up and went to hug her. She clung onto him as he patted her back soothingly. Bruce couldn’t take it either and went to kneel next to her to hold her hand, wondering when did this become a problem. She had met him and Alfred and easily talked to them, had been the one to begin contact with Dick and had gone against his orders to bring Barbara in. Leslie hadn’t been a problem either.

Had something happened, or was it just paranoia?

“Okay”, she finally whispered, “Okay. I’ll try.”

“Thank you”, Bruce whispered back, squeezing her hand.

 

“I told you, dad: this afternoon I’m babysitting”, Barbara said to the phone. Ada looked up at her, holding her free hand and walking down the streets of Gotham. “Yeah, I will probably be home for dinner, unless I get invited at my charge’s house. Yes, dad, they are good people. No, you don’t need to check their criminal records. We’ll be fine. Yeah, love you too. Take care.”

She hung up, giving an apologetic smile.

“Sorry about the babysitting thing.”

“I’m not offended. That’s kind of what you are doing, anyways.”, she sighed.

From all the options that Alfred, Dick and Bruce had offered, Ada had been quick to dismiss the most popular sports. She was reluctant at first, but her family had convinced her that figure skating would be fun.

She did not mention that she had been dancing for the moon for months, agreeing silently that maybe those kinds of movements would satisfy the moon.

Bruce had talked to Barbara and she had agreed to accompany her.

“Are you nervous?”, the teen asked, amused.

“Yes”, was the honest-to-god answer.

She laughed softly.

“Take a deep breath. We are here to have some fun! If you don’t like it, we don’t have to come back.”

Ada exhaled lengthy. That was reassuring, but not quite enough.

“We are here”, Barbara announced, slowing down and turning to the building at her left.

The door opened with the soft sound of bells, and they found themselves in a wooden floor lobby. Ada let go of Barbara’s hand to unzip her jacket and proceeded to follow her, walking towards the woman behind a table.

“Hello”, she greeted cheerfully. “We are here for the figure skating class.”

“Welcome”, the middle-aged woman said. “Your names, please?”, she asked, pulling out a list.

“Barbara Gordon. And…”, she cut herself, looking down at Ada in split-second horror, “Ada Wa…terfall?”, she shrugged.

Ada shrugged back.

“Barbara Gordon and Ada Waterfall”, the receptionist mused, writing their names down. “Perfect. You may come in and take the skates that better fit you, the class will start in five minutes”, she said, gesturing to a curtain and the hallway it hid.

They walked in what seemed to be the changing room. Ada happily wandered around while Barbara rented a locker and stuffed her bag inside.

“Do you need to leave something here? Your jacket?”

“Will it be cold?”, she asked, putting down a skate.

“I dunno. I don’t think so.”

Ada shed her coat and stuffed it over Barbara’s bag.

“Have you found skates that fit you yet?”

“No.”

“Let’s get to it, then.”

They first found a pair of skates for each of them and then settled to see if it was a good fit.

Ada was struggling to tie her laces.

“Give me a sec and I’ll help you out”, Barbara said, standing up in one swift motion. She rolled in front of the little girl and kneeled down.

“Thanks”, Ada chirped.

“Don’t mention it. Just watch how I do it so you can do it yourself next time.”

“Okay.”

“Alright, it’s done. Ready to stand?”, Barbara asked, standing up.

“I guess…?”

Ada was pulled to her feet, eyes wide.

“Don’t worry. It’s easy to stand.”

It was true. She tentatively moved her feet, managing to roll without loosing enough balance to fall. Barbara observed her with amusement.

“Shall we?”, she smiled, gesturing to the corridor that presumably went to the rink.

Together, they made their way to it, where a few more people were waiting around; mostly mothers with daughters or sons.

“How about we go talk to somebody?”, Barbara tried.

Ada shook her head fervently, clinging to her hand.

“Okay, okay, easy there. You don’t have to talk to them yet, but maybe you could at least take a look? So you will know their faces?”

“Yeah. Okay. Yeah”, she breathed, looking around and pausing for a moment on the faces that weren’t looking back.

The teacher arrived and welcomed them all, explaining some basics and doing a few demonstrations.

“Since I guess you are all beginners, we will start with some games so you can get used to the skates. We are going to play tag!”

Ada hid behind Barbara and successfully avoided to be the chosen to tag, but the teacher pointed at Barbara and she shot an arm to catch her.

“Tag it!”, she yelped, and skated away with impressive ease.

She was left blinking in surprise, half-outraged at the betrayal and finding herself in a situation where she had to chase strangers.

_Okay. Okay, this is not that unusual. Just like chasing criminals, but without knives and guns. Easy peasy_ , she told herself, and settled for lunging at the closest kid to her.

The kid in particular, a slim girl of dark eyes and a long black ponytail, dashed away giggling. It took a couple minutes, but Ada finally got caught up in the game and giggled with them in excitement. She managed to tag a brunette boy clad in grey clothes.

 

In the blink of an eye, the one-hour class was over and Barbara skated to her side.

“If you have had a good time, don’t hesitate to come back!”, the teacher waved them off.

Ada waved back shyly, but at least she wasn’t pouting. Barbara counted it as a win.

“So?”, she asked after a few steps down the street.

“It was fun”, she admitted.

“And how about the other kids?”

“I don’t know. We haven’t really talked. They are still strangers. But I guess they are not… bad?”

Barbara smiled at that.

“Will you want to come back, then?”

“Hum… Maybe. Yeah. One more try.”

“Great! Would you like a doughnut? My treat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *back at the Manor*
> 
> Ada: hey dad, guess who now has a surename?  
> *writes her full name in fancy letters and glitter and hangs it on her door*


	19. Bane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hummingbird's first encounter with Bane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bring you angst

Bane was bigger than Ada thought, despite having read his stats and seen pictures.

She froze for a terrible, long moment, just staring at him with wide eyes.

“MOVE!!!”, Batman shouted from the far away distance, where some grunts had swarmed on him.

The colossus had come out from the stair’s shadows when Hummingbird had neared them, on her way to check and free the hostages held in the warehouse. Robin had stayed behind to punch a couple guys before following her, so he was still far. Not much. But too far.

Barbara was sitting this one out in favour of studying.

Ada was on her own.

She turned around at her father’s voice, ready to run to him, to safety.

She gasped loudly, feeling Bane’s fingers curl around her left forearm. He tugged hard, raising her into the air. Ada kicked the air, struggling to remember what to do in this situation. She had… She had to get free. Twist, or punch, or…

She was reaching for her utility belt when Bane mercilessly closed his fist.

Her screams rose above the sound of breaking bones, tears immediately streaming down her face and legs kicking wildly, which only made the pain worse and her screams grow louder.

Hummingbird was barely aware of a batarang dashing past her face and straight into Bane’s, releasing a controlled explosion that made him stumble and let go of her. She could hear Alfred talking into the comms, but she couldn’t understand a word he said as she hit the floor.

Hands grabbed at her cape and pulled her, disturbing her arm, not giving her pause in the haze of pain. She tried to roll, to get her broken arm away from the unforgiving floor, to stop the pain, but she was also offering resistance to whoever was dragging her to safety. At some moment, the tug on her cape eased and Robin was by her side, unclipping his yellow cape and wrapping it around Ada’s broken arm. She shrieked and thrashed, just wanting for the hurt to be gone, just for a minute, just for a second.

“Humm!”, he was saying. “Humm, it’s okay, I know it hurts a lot but you are going to be fine, okay? We are going home”, he tried to soothe her, pulling out a shot of painkillers of his belt and injecting it.

She inhaled sharply, whimpering and still kicking weakly.

Robin slipped his hands under her armpits and resumed dragging her away, towards the batmobile.

“Dad…”, she cried out weakly, “D-Dad…”

“Dad will be coming soon, Humm. I promise. It will be alright”, Robin whispered to her.

He lifted her up to the co-pilot sit and jumped beside her, smashing a couple of buttons.

“Auto-pilot. To the Cave”, he said, voice slightly shaken, and the car drove off.

Ada was shaking, eyes still wide open and unfocused, breathing in harsh pants, healthy hand hovering above her broken arm, but not doing anything, just trembling.

Robin leaned towards her, a hand on her shoulder, wishing there was enough room to pull her into a hug.

“Ada, it’s okay, breathe. Breathe. Slowly. In, and out.”

She tried. She tried, but her arm was burning and she couldn’t stop sobbing.

“Master Dick, Doctor Thompkins is already here. We are awaiting your arrival”, Alfred’s voice washed through the car.

“We’ll be there in five.”

“Copy that. Hang in there, Lady Ada. You are almost home.”

Hummingbird was now curling up, still shaking but gaze focused on Robin, reaching out to him. He clasped her hand, stroking it softly.

“It’s okay, I’m here. Breathe with me, like this: in… and out. In… and out. That’s it. You are being very brave”, he tried an encouraging smile.

It didn’t matter. Ada didn’t really get it. She leaned her head on the sit, facing her brother, and passed out.

 

She woke up whimpering and tried to kick at whoever was looming over her, but a bunch of hands pinned her down immediately.

“Ada! Ada, darling, it’s okay, you are home”, a gentle voice said.

“Le-Leslie…”, she panted.

She blinked, trying to will away the blurriness, and finally recognized the Doctor, Alfred and Dick. Behind their heads, she made out the Cave’s ceiling. She tried to raise a hand to rub at her eyes, but she was too tired to move more than a few centimetres.

Instead, she turned her head, catching sight of her now casted left arm. The fingers poking out of it twitched a bit.

“I had to operate to reset the bone and take off some shards”, Leslie explained softly. “You will be okay.”

Ada wanted to thank her, but she had to swallow to clear her throat and after that her head spun, dazing her.

“Dad…?”, she asked instead.

“Master Bruce is not back yet”, Alfred answered, stroking her hair.

“I want… dad…”, she cried.

Dick was silent, still in his Robin suit, turning around to look at the computer and the batmobile before turning again to look at his sister.

“He will be back soon, honey. How about we go to your room and get you in your pyjamas, in the meanwhile?”, Leslie offered.

Ada whimpered, but did not protest or resist when she picked her up and made her way to the lift.

“I should get back there”, Robin mused.

“No, Master Dick”, Alfred stopped him short. “This has been enough action for the night. Go change. I’m sure Lady Ada will appreciate it if you sleep with her tonight."

 

Ada and Dick lay together under the blankets, the boy resting an arm on her shoulders and her face turned towards him.

Bruce had told himself that he shouldn’t come in. That he should let them rest. But Ada’s screams of pain were still ringing in his skull, and he needed to make sure that she was okay.

The door opened with a slight creek, but the kids did not stir. Dressed in sweatpants and a simple black shirt, he walked to the unoccupied side of the bed, where Ada’s broken arm rested, finally undisturbed. On the white cast, there was already Dick’s, Leslie’s and Alfred’s names written, plus a Robin symbol and a couple flowers.

There were still a couple spaces to fill.

He sat silently on the bed, watching his children breathe.

Ada opened her eyes and yawned softly, turning to him.

“Dad”, she smiled, broken arm twitching towards him.

“Hi, sweetheart”, he said softly, brushing her fingers with a hand and her hair with the other. “How are you feeling?”

“Weird”, she giggled.

Bruce eyed the drip of painkillers behind her bed.

“Go back to sleep”, he soothed.

“Stay?”, she asked, smile gone and mild confusion in her eyes, “Please?”, she continued after a moment too long of silence.

“Of course”, he breathed, laying down beside her.

To his surprise, Ada sighed in relief, turning her head towards him and accepting his shy embrace.

She fell asleep almost immediately.

“I am so sorry, Ada”, Bruce whispered. “So sorry…”


	20. Wood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wind is the keeper of everyone's secrets. Even Ada's.

Ada spent most of the next day sleeping, watching Dick play on his console while awake. Leslie and Barbara dropped by to visit, too. Now that the pain was gone, the child didn’t seem too concerned about the broken arm. It seemed like the case amused her, as she was often poking it and scratching it with her nails.

That night, dinner was moved to Ada’s room. She sighed deeply, setting her tray aside and just staring at Bruce, waiting for him to speak.

It didn’t take longer than five seconds, tops.

“You won’t be coming on patrol until your arm heals”, he said, straight to the point.

“Yeah, I assumed that”, she replied, raising a brow.

“There’s something else”, Leslie said, licking her lips, as if reading herself to say something that she would rather not say. “Your cubit and radius were badly shattered. I did my best, but… You might not regain full movement of your left arm.”

Ada tilted her head at that, brow furrowed, and stared at the case in deep thought.

“That doesn’t mean that it will be useless”, she was quick to continue, “But it might take a little more effort to move, and so, longer to recover.”

The girl still didn’t say anything. She kept staring.

“Ada?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”, the question was asked, and suddenly Ada was aware of the tension in the room.

“Yeah”, she replied quickly, blinking away layers and layers of thoughts and flashing a smile. “It’s okay. It will be alright.”

With that said, she picked up her tray and started eating, doing her magic and sparking small talk with Dick, which slowly grew to include the adults in it, even if it took a bit more to get Bruce to participate.

 

In the late morning, Ada got up from bed and got dressed with her favourite deep green hoodie, black leggings and thick socks. Alfred caught her putting on her boots.

“Are you sure it is wise to go to the forest, Lady Ada?”, he asked with a tone that let away that he would be fighting over this.

“It’s okay, Al. I’m not leaving. I just want to go for a walk”, she said, offering a sheepish smile, “I won’t go too far. Promise.”

That seemed to soften him enough.

“Alright. But at least take a comm, in case you need assistance at some moment.”

Ada waited, sitting on the floor of the entrance while Alfred went to fetch the comm. She tied her shoelaces with expertise, missing the skates already. She wondered if she would be allowed to go to figure skating classes with a broken arm.

…Probably not.

Alfred returned and handed her the comm. She pocketed it in her hoodie, and while she was distracted, the butler slipped a brown scarf and a white knitted hat on her.

“There”, he nodded, satisfied, “Don’t wander off, Lady Ada. Lunch will be ready soon.”

“See you later, Al”, she smiled warmly, and left.

 

“ _Are you alright, Ada?_ ”, the Wind asked as soon as she stepped into the forest. “ _I heard your screams. I carried them as far as I could, and the leaves trembled and the stars cried for you.”_

“I’m fine”, she was quick to reply. “Thanks for asking. How have you been?”

“ _Worried”_ , it replied.

“Sorry. My family was with me, so I couldn’t talk to you”, she explained, her feet walking a familiar path.

“ _I understand”_ , it seemed to nod, a light breeze making leaves swirl around her.

“So. Have you heard something interesting?”

“ _Lots of things have happened and been said, like every day. Declarations of love, betrayals uncovered, a few whispered secrets that will never be spoken again. Cries of grief and awkward laughs, all around the world.”_

“It must be stressing, to know everything that is said in the planet”, Ada hummed.

_“It is what it is”_ , the Wind sighed.

There was a moment of silence before she swallowed a knot in her throat, pondering lengthy.

“Wind?”

“ _Yes?”_

“What did dad do? After I… passed out?”

The breeze that had been dancing around her stopped.

“… _Do you really want to know that?”_

“…I don’t know”, she mused. “Maybe I already do.”

“ _I guess you have an approximate idea, if you are asking”,_ it mumbled back, and when it spoke again, it was as if it had taken a gulp of air. “ _I heard punches. Lots of punches, and the squish of meat, and small bones breaking. Then I heard the sirens, and it was hard to hear anything else. I heard your father’s breathing and heartbeat as he fled the place. And that’s it.”_

“…Thank you”, Ada whispered, stopping abruptly when she noticed the young tree in front of her. She blinked at it. “What was I gonna…?”

“ _I think you already know that”,_ the Wind whistled.

“I was… I was gonna walk straight into it.”

“ _Sounds right to me”_ , it shrugged.

In a bout of… something… Ada walked into the tree, her clothes and cast falling at its feet.

 

She remembered she had to be back to the Manor soon.

So Ada stretched her arms and grabbed at the tree’s bark to pull herself out of it, standing on the grass with ease. Her eyes found her abandoned items and she picked them up hurriedly, putting on her hoodie and panties as she went, holding the cast in one hand, wondering how was she supposed to put it back and deciding to make a quick stop to put on her pants, because surely Alfred wouldn’t appreciate it if she appeared on time for lunch half-naked.

“Am I late?!”, she shrieked.

“ _I don’t know. There’s no one asking for the time right now in this time-zone.”_

Ada would have snorted, but her pants got caught half-way through her thighs.

“What…?!”

She stopped and tugged harder, but the pants wouldn’t move an inch. They were too… small?

“Huh.”

She slipped them off and slung them over her shoulder, her boots still dangling from her other hand. She decided not to try them on either, instead resuming her run towards the Manor.

“ _As always, I will keep your secrets until you return”,_ the Wind waved goodbye.

Ada’s brow furrowed, and she was about to ask what was it talking about when she stepped outside the forest.

She kept running to the door, knowing that she was late.

She was just about to open it when the knob was swung away.

“Lady Ada…”, Alfred’s scolding voice began, but it suddenly cut off. “What in…?!”

“Hi”, she smiled meekly. “Sorry I’m late. Huh… This fell off”, she said, handing him the cast. “And my pants don’t fit me anymore.”

 

They were all sitting at the dinner table: Alfred, Leslie, Dick, Bruce and Ada. Barbara couldn’t manage to come but she had been told about the situation.

Ada’s cast was resting on the table while Leslie just stared at the new x-rays. Dick had lent her one of his sweatpants, but she would need new clothes soon.

“There’s… There’re no broken bones. Not even fractures. Not even scar tissue”, she stated yet again. “And you have spurted.”

All eyes fell on her yet again.

“Well… kids grow up when they are sick, don’t they?”, she shrugged.

“Kids don’t grow up seven centimetres in less than half an hour, Ada”, Bruce exhaled.

She shrank at the implication of that.

_You are not a kid._

“How did this happen?”, he pressed lightly.

“I don’t know”, she said, yet again. “I went to the forest. Everything was fine and suddenly my stuff was on the ground and I was late so I picked it up and I ran back. I swear, I don’t know anything else…!”, she bit back a whimper, clawing at her now tight hoodie.

“I believe you”, Dick was quick to say. “This is… This is just one of your things! You haven’t hurt anybody so it’s fine! Right, Bruce?”

He wasn’t looking at them. Is gaze was fixated on the table’s surface.

“You need to let us come with you the next time you leave, Ada”, he said, finally looking at her.

She seemed horrified.

“It’s the only way we can know what’s going on with you”, he continued.

She swallowed loudly.

“You don’t trust me”, she whispered, just loud enough to be heard.

“It’s not that—”

“YOU DON’T TRUST ME!!!”, she roared, tears streaming. “You don’t trust me but I want you to trust me because I love you and I want you to love me! But you won’t trust me unless you know EVERYTHING about me and I can’t show you because I don’t know it myself!”

“If you take us with you, we can—”

“It feels WRONG!!!”, she shouted, collapsing on her sit, breathing harshly.

Silence settled in the room.

Nobody knew what else to say, so Ada snatched up her old cast and left.


	21. Themyscira

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First visit to Themyscira, heart-to-heart with Diana

Ada raced to open the front door, as always.

“Diana!”, she exclaimed in surprise, offering a hand to shake hers. “Hello! Nice to see you! Wanna come in?”, she offered, stepping aside.

“In fact, there’s no need. I would rather to leave as soon as possible now that the jet’s engines are still warm, if you are ready”, she replied politely.

“Ready? Ready for what?”, Ada frowned in confusion.

“Bruce didn’t tell you?”, she asked, now visibly thrown off.

“You are going to Themyscira”, Bruce said, walking into the lobby.

There was a very, very tense moment of shocked silence.

“You didn’t tell her?!”, Diana growled, crossing her arms and glaring daggers.

“No”, he answered, as if it would be strange to do otherwise. “It was a surprise.”

“You are getting rid of me”, Ada mumbled, mouth agape.

“No”, he said again. “I am sending you to train with the amazons. Maybe they can help you—”

“Bruce!”, Diana interrupted him, “You should have asked her! She doesn’t want to come!”

“Not everybody can go to Themyscira, and it’s a great opportunity to…”

“You know what?”, Ada said louder than him, turning to Diana. “Since I’m not wanted here, I do want to come. Let me grab a thing and I will be there”, she said, turning around and going up the stairs without sparing a glance to Bruce.

“Ada!”, he called her, but she didn’t turn around.

Diana rubbed at her nose bridge, sighing loudly.

“Seriously, Bruce, sometimes you can be so thick…!”, she growled.

“I don’t understand. I’m doing this to help her…!”, he counterattacked, and he really seemed at a loss.

“Well, maybe if you had told her about it before, she wouldn’t be thinking you don’t want her anymore!”

Instead of answering with more shouts, he took a deep breath.

“Okay”, he nodded slightly, clasping his hands together in front of his face. “Okay. When she comes down the stairs, I’m going to tell her.”

“I’m ready!!!”, Ada’s voice came from far off.

They turned to see her waving from the gardens, something under her arm.

“Aaaaaaaaaand of course she jumped off of a window”, Wonder Woman sighed.

They both started walking towards her. Ada seemed to tense up, but she stood her ground, looking at Bruce defiantly.

She was hugging her deer plushie.

“Are we leaving, or what?”, she asked to Diana.

“Your father wants to speak with you first”, she tried to sound concealing.

The kid’s neck snapped to glare at him.

Bruce took a deep breath and kneeled down.

“I am sorry. I should have told you. This is not a punishment, it’s a chance to discover yourself with different people. I thought… I thought you would find it exciting. I thought you would like it.”

Ada stared at him for a long moment, chewing at her lip, visibly holding back tears and sobs.

She bolted around without a word.

“Let’s go”, she said, voice trembling.

Diana helped her onto the invisible jet and buckled her safety belt, turning around in a swift movement to get on the pilot sit and mouth silently to Bruce: _I will take care of her._

 

_Thank you._

 

Themyscira was a pretty place. A small cortege welcomed them, bringing horses for them to ride. Ada patted the brown mare she had been given all along the tour.

The amazons seemed very interested in her: offering her small presents like flowers and kind words, but also being cautious, saying: “My name is not of your business” before introducing themselves. Ada didn’t really mind. It was just a little weird.

“Excuse their excitement”, Diana smiled at her from her white horse. “It has been a long time since we had a child around here.”

Ada then decided to indulge the women and behave more childish, since she always felt that it wasn’t an appropriate behaviour around home. She was offered several sets of amazon clothes, those white tunics that somehow fitted everyone perfectly, and a blacksmith came to take her measures, promising to make her a nice armour.

She was shown the beaches, coves, training grounds and mountain paths, and was finally brought to the palace to meet Queen Hippolyta.

“How do I have to behave?”, Ada asked nervously, when they had crossed the throne room’s threshold.

“There’s no need for great formalities, dear. As long as you are not consciously disrespectful, everything will be alright”, the woman soothed her.

“Huh. Okay.”

She stayed silent, slowing down her steps so that someone could signal her if she wasn’t supposed to.

“Mother”, Diana greeted. “Allow me to introduce you to Ada: a protégée and a good friend’s daughter.”

Hippolyta turned to look at her. Ada bowed slightly.

“Hello”, she mused shyly.

“Welcome to Themyscira, little one”, she nodded, a kind smile on her face. “I hope your stay here is pleasant. Please, let us know for anything you may need.”

Ada relaxed a little, still hugging her plushie.

“Thank you”, she returned the smile.

“Have you been shown your chambers?”

“No…”

“Allow me to accompany you, then”, the Queen got up from her throne, and mother and daughter flanked her, guiding her through the hallways.

She listened attentively at the explanations about the palace’s architecture, asking polite questions and stopping to touch some carvings or stare through the various viewpoints. Diana pointed some places and explained happily about the fauna and flora found there.

“You seem eager to see what’s out there, Ada”, Hippolyta commented, amused.

“It sounds really interesting”, she replied with big, bright eyes.

The queen chuckled softly.

“You remember me of Diana when she was a child. She would sneak out almost every night, thinking nobody knew that she was leaving.”

“You knew?!”, the princess seemed honestly shocked.

Ada snorted and laughed at the situation.

Her chambers were… nice. Similar at the ones she had back home in terms of space; very different in terms of decoration. She had a very nice view of the town and the sea, a fluffy bed with curtains, a divan and a desk and chair. The closet was built-in the stone wall.

“Is it of your liking? Do you miss something?”, Diana asked softly.

_Yes._

“It’s fine”, Ada answered instead with a tiny smile. “Thanks.”

 

Dinner was certainly interesting. There were a lot of dishes that Ada had never seen before and the amazons seemed determined to get her to try everything. Diana had to jump to her rescue and excused them to accompany her to her room.

Ada sat on the bed, hugging her deer, eyes cast down. The princess observed her for a moment before sitting down beside her.

“That’s a very nice plushie”, she said softly. “Does it have a name?”

“Yeah”, she nodded, and a smile drew itself against her will on her face. “Deer Grayson.”

Diana smacked a hand against her forehead, but she was smiling, too.

“A present from your brother, I presume.”

She nodded again, not quite looking at her.

“You miss him already”, she said. It was not a question. Not a reproach, either.

“Yeah”, she croaked, shoulders finally shaking and tears streaming down her face.

“Oh, sweetheart…”, Diana leaned to embrace her while she cried.

She held her for long minutes, rocking her softly.

“I-I didn’t say g-goodbye to him…!”, she sobbed. “I was t-too angry…! Too angry at dad…! F-for not loving me…!”

“Bruce does love you, Ada. He loves you so much…”

“Liar!!!”, she wailed, trying to get away, but Diana held her gently and she didn’t try to scramble away again. “He wouldn’t send me away if he loved me…!”

The woman sighed softly.

“Do you want to know what I think?”

Ada didn’t answer at first, sniffing and trying to get a hold of her breathing. Diana handed her a handkerchief. She blew her nose loudly.

“What?”, she finally asked.

“I think,”, Diana paused for a moment to put her thoughts in order, but ultimately decided to let her heart speak: “that your dad has been very alone, and very sad, for a very long time. I think that now he is a lot better: thanks to you, thanks to Dick, thanks to Barbara… I think he realises this, and he fears. He fears that he will lose you: that you will be hurt in combat, or that you may get tired of him and just leave. I think he fears, and tries to plan for it; maybe he decided you would be safer here, maybe he was just trying to get something he thought you would like… But he messed up. Bruce… he is not much of a people person, I would say. I think he tries his best. But he still messes up.”, the woman paused again, stroking Ada’s curls. She wasn’t trembling anymore, but she didn’t make a move to say anything either. So Diana took a deep breath and kept on. “I also think… that you didn’t want to come with me today.”

Ada tensed a bit.

“I think you wanted to accept your dad’s apology, but you needed to show that you were angry. That you were hurt. And you did. I’m not saying it was a bad decision. Bruce needs to be told when he is wrong. But you didn’t do what you really wanted to do. Does that make any sense?”

She finally looked at her.

“Yeah”, she sniffed, wiping her tears away. “Thanks”, she whined, hugging her back.

“You are welcome”, she took a moment to smile. “What do you want to do, then? I can take you back home now. Or we can wait for the morning.”

“I don’t want to be a bother”, Ada mused. “I’ve only been here for a few hours and the others were so excited that I was here…”

“You will never be a bother, darling”, Diana said, placing a soft hand on her shoulder. “You will always be welcome in Themyscira, no matter the time. As for the other amazons… I am sure they will understand. How about we drop off to say goodbye?”, she continued, offering a hand.

There was just a second of hesitation. Diana smiled and they ran off to the hallways, giggling like kids in the moonlight. Ada gambolled every now and then, keeping up with Diana’s long strides.

They skidded to a halt at the doors of the banquet hall.

“A moment of your attention, if you please!”, Diana chanted, a laugh hidden in her words. The chatter stopped gradually as the amazons turned around. “Ada misses her dad and siblings, so I am taking her back home. We have come to say goodbye.”

“Goodbye!”, she waved.

A cacophony of farewells echoed in the great room, hundreds of hands waving and understanding eyes smiling at her.

“I’ll be back!”, Ada promised, being gently led out the door by Diana. “See you!”

They ran to the invisible jet, too. They both were panting, but also smiling.

 

“Should I call ahead?”, Diana asked once they were airborne.

“I don’t know. They will probably see us coming even if we don’t, won’t they?”

“We’ll keep it a surprise, then”, Diana turned around on her seat so Ada could see her smirk.

“Yeah”, she smirked back.

She stared out the window the whole way home. She hadn’t had time to enjoy it before, too caught up in her feelings. Now, with Deer Grayson on her lap and the knowledge that she was going home, she got to relax and wonder. To watch the clouds and feel the wind pushing on the plane. To sense something familiar, to know that it was very cold outside, to think that she would rather fly lower if it were just her.

She got lost in thought, and only snapped out of it when the jet landed on her beloved gardens.

Diana helped her down.

“Go on”, she smiled. “I’ll leave once you are inside.”

Ada stood still for a moment, staring at her.

“Thank you, aunt Diana”, she finally said, and raised her arms in a silent request for her to bend down. When she did, Ada kissed her cheek, and was returned a kiss to her forehead.

“See you soon, sweetheart”, the princess smiled softly.

“See you soon!”, Ada shouted back, already running for the doors.

Before she could reach them, they opened a slit.

A surprised looking Bruce blinked at her.

“I’m back”, she squeaked. “I missed you.”

“Missed you too, peach.”

Diana watched as Bruce picked her up, smiling fondly at Ada. He then looked at her, and gave a tiny nod that Ada noticed. She turned in her father’s arms and waved at her. Diana waved back, and climbed up on her jet.

“How… was Themyscira?”, he asked carefully, closing the door behind him.

“It is pretty”, she admitted. “But I rather stay around here for the moment. Okay?”

They looked at each other eyes.

“Okay”, he nodded. “Now let’s get you and Deer Grayson to bed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to give Special Thanks to Deer Grayson for appearing in this fic. This story would had never been the same without him ;_;  
> Considering making a character tag for him


	22. On the Streets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ada makes a human friend

Ada walked out of figure skating class, gulping loudly. This had been her first class without Barbara. It had gone well: she had made small chatter with the other kids, they had played, they had trained.

Now, it was her turn to return home on her own.

Alfred had offered to go pick her up, but Ada had felt bad about it. He had enough work to do as it was; she didn’t want him to waste an hour coming and going.

So she had mustered a good amount of courage and had asked for an alternative. She and Alfred had looked up buses, but only one passed through the road that led to the Manor and the towns beyond. She had been given money and a phone in case there was an emergency, and she had been dropped at class.

Her heart beat like a drum, rocking her ribcage. She started walking towards the center, where the bus stop was. She had a few minutes of walking until she got there.

To distract herself from her nervousness, she decided to study the buildings.

Gotham was so creepy. Like, very creepy. All was grey or black. The buildings were dirty, the air was dirty, about 70% of the people’s souls were dirty! Sometimes she didn’t understand why her dad loved this city. She was grateful that the Manor was so far away from it.

Her heartbeat refused to settle down. She was now resorting to telling herself not to worry, that everything would be alright. There was no danger, she told herself as she stared at the dark alleys and strangers passing by.

Strangers. So many strangers, hiding under coats; and tall, tall buildings, no space to see in between them; trees, trees, why weren’t there any trees?

Ada panicked, but kept walking. It didn’t take long for her to realise that she was lost.

Buzzing overwhelmed her senses, and suddenly she was stumbling, vision blurry and harsh pants coming out of her mouth; thoughts slipping, slipping away…

A cat meowed a few feet away from her.

“Hi”, she greeted the tabby cat; fear and dread draining away.

It meowed again and rubbed itself against her legs. She crouched down to pet it.

“Thanks”, she breathed. “I… I got lost. Can you help me? Please?”

The cat purred and turned around, walking ahead.

Ada followed it without vacillation, calmer now that she was accompanied.

It waited for her. When she lagged behind, it returned to let her pet it, meowling every now and then. It guided her through the streets, and she followed with blind trust.

The Wind did not comment, did not say a thing, but it seemed to approve, if the pleasant breeze was anything to go by.

The cat stopped in front of an alley, hissing loudly at the commotion that was going on in it. When she heard it, Ada enlarged her steps, staring into the darkness and the two human figures in it.

“Give me back my wallet, you brat!”, a bald man was yelling.

“I don’t have it!”, the boy dangling from his hand yelled back, struggling to get free.

“HEY!!!”, Ada shouted. “Let him go!!!”

The man turned his head to look at her, startled.

“Hit the road, kid! This is not of your business!”, he spitted before turning again and raising his free hand, balling it into a fist.

Ada shot towards them, one hand diving into her sports bag and successfully grabbing at her skate’s laces, plugging them out of the bag and swinging them in circles. The man did not turn to her, dimming her unimportant.

 _That’s going to be one of your greatest advantages in your first years_ , Bruce had told her once: _The enemy is going to underestimate you. Let them do it. And once they have lowered their guard, strike fast and hard._

The skates collided against the small of the man’s back with centrifuge force: not enough to brake a bone, but it surely caused a great deal of pain, since he let go of the boy and fell to his knees, trying to get away from the unsuspected attack.

Ada swung her skates yet again, at a prudent distance from the man so he could not grab her, looking down at him threateningly.

“Stupid kids…”, he mumbled, slowly getting up.

“Leave, or I’ll hit you again!”, she hissed.

The man showed his teeth, undeterred. He stepped forward, fists balled, and Ada was getting ready to strike again when an angry meowl echoed in the alley and the tabby cat flung itself on the man’s shoulders, biting and clawing at him with feline rage. The man screamed in pain and fear, grabbing at the cat and throwing it towards Ada and the boy before deciding maybe that was a little too much, and ran away.

Ada stopped the swinging of her skates and crouched to check if the cat was injured. It seemed to be just fine, now liking at its private parts as if nothing had happened, so she turned to check on the boy.

Black curly hair, blue eyes, about her same height. Dressed in simple, worn down clothes. He had a bruise on his cheek.

“Are you okay?”, she asked softly.

“Yeah… Thanks for the save”, he replied, brushing his face with his sleeve. “But I would have managed.”

Ada did not say anything at that, suspecting that he would not appreciate an honest answer to it.

“Same hair”, she smiled instead, pointing at her own curls.

It took a moment to click, but the boy smiled minutely: “Same hair”, he nodded.

“My name is Ada. Ada Waterfall”, she introduced herself, offering a hand.

“I’m Jason. Jason Todd”, he said, shaking her hand.

“Why did that guy think you had stolen his wallet?”, she asked, tilting her head.

“Because I did”, he shrugged, taking it out of an interior pocket of his jacket, grabbing the bills and tossing the rest to a side.

Ada blinked at the scene, eyes wide.

“Why did you do that?!”

“I need the money”, he simply said.

“What for?”

“Food.”

She was visibly taken aback by that.

“You don’t have food?”, she asked, and seemed very confused about that concept.

“What? Have you never heard about poverty?”, he huffed, hunching over and hiding his hands in his pockets.

Ada backed off.

“I’m sorry…”

“Well, you helped me get away, so it’s fine. See you never, I guess”, he waved, turning around.

“Wait!”, she called, not really knowing why.

“What?”, he stopped, raising a brow.

“I… I want to help you.”

“And how do you plan to do that?”

Ada dropped her bag and dug inside an interior pocket of her own, pulling out a bill of ten and offering it to him.

“I… I take figure skating classes a few blocks from here, two times a week. I was supposed to get home on my own with the bill, but I guess the bus has already left, so…”

Jason started between the bill and her eyes, and slowly walked over her, raising a hand tentatively.

“Are you sure about that?”, he asked, fingers twitching. “You still have to get home.”

“I’ll be fine”, she said, looking down at the tabby cat, who was now sitting and staring at them. It purred softly. “The cat is taking me somewhere.”

Jason snorted at that.

“You are following a cat? No offense, but I would be a way better guide than it.”

“You are going to offend it!”, she scolded him.

He sighed, finally taking the bill from her and pocketing it.

“Let’s say, I can’t just let you roam the city on your own with only a cat. I’ll be your bodyguard, and the money is my payment. What do you say?”

Ada jerked a bit at that.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to come if you don’t want. I don’t know how far I’m going.”

“As I said. Not letting you wander alone through the streets”, he deadpanned.

Ada laughed at that.

“Okay, okay. But if you get tired, you can leave.”

“I don’t get tired that easily”, he replied as they walked out of the alley.

“Me neither”, she hummed, a knowing smile plastered on her face.

The tabby cat took the lead, and they followed.

“We really are following a cat, huh”, Jason mussed.

“Yep.”

“Are you a witch?”

Ada tilted her head, brow furrowed.

“Why would you say that?”

“Well, I dunno. You appear out of nowhere, following a cat that waits for you. It feels kinda magic”, he shrugged.

“Hm. I like animals. And animals like me. Maybe it’s just because I spend a lot of time in the forest.”

“Really?”, he blinked. “The forest is very far from here.”

“Yeah… I don’t come to the city very often. I don’t really like it.”

“I would be the opposite. I barely get out of here”, he mused.

“You could come home with me, some day!”, she chirped. “I will take you to my favourite places!”

“Sounds nice”, he smiled. “But isn’t it dangerous?”

“I’d say the city is waaaaaay more dangerous nowadays”, she huffed.

“Yeah, you’re probably right”, he smiled.

Ada perked up at that. She decided she liked seeing him smile.

“So you leave near the forest?”, he continued.

“Yeah.”

“And your mom and dad let you go in it?”

“I don’t have a mom”, she replied, looking forward. “I have a dad, and a brother, and a sister that doesn’t live with us… A couple aunts, some uncles… I may also have a grandpa…?”

“You are not sure about it?”, he chuckled.

“They are family,”, she shrugged, “and that’s the most important to me.”

“I see”, he mused, and stayed silent for a moment. “What… what happened to your mom? If it’s okay to ask?”, he asked, doing his best to hide the fear from his voice.

Ada noticed nonetheless.

“Nothing. I don’t have a mom.”

“But… you must have had one at some point, right?”

She stopped, thinking about it.

Did she? Had she had a mom that she couldn’t remember?

“I don’t know”, she resumed her walking, deep in thought. It didn’t take too long for her to notice Jason’s uneasiness, so she shook herself out of it. “What about you? Do you have a mom and a dad?”

“Yeah. And a dog”, he smiled faintly.

“That’s so cool! Dad doesn’t let me have animals in the house”, she pouted.

“It’s okay, I guess”, he shrugged, and looked away at the cat. “Anyways. For how longer are we gonna be following the cat?”

“Until we reach our destination, I guess.”

“What if it’s walking in circles?”

“It’s not.”

“Why did you choose to follow the cat, anyways? It doesn’t seem logic.”

“It makes me feel safe”, she answered, and it was honest.

“Okaaaaaaaay…”

Ada laughed, not really having a counterargument for the look he was giving her. She just thought it was funny.

Jason laughed a bit with her, too.

A few minutes later, the tabby cat turned around a corner into a new alley, and jumped up a set of stairs. It sat down and looked down at them, meowling softly.

“We have arrived”, Ada said, and turned around to look at Jason.

“What? Are you gonna… climb up with it?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t know where it is going”, he pointed out.

“It’s going where it wants me to go”, she shrugged.

They stared at each other in silent for a moment.

“You ARE a witch.”

“I guess I am a forest child, if you want to count it as the same”, she smirked.

He chuckled at that: “Yeah, why not? My friend, the forest child.”

Ada actually froze for a second at that. Friend…? Yeah. Yeah, Jason felt like a friend.

She smiled widely.

“See you soon, then?”, she asked hopefully.

“Sure. Around the place we met? Same time?”

“Yeah!”

“Okay then. Go on, I guess. I’ll wait here a moment in case you have to get down again”, he said.

“I’ll be fine. But thanks”, she smiled before climbing up the stairs.

The cat went on ahead of her, walking smugly until it sat in front of a window.

Ada peeked inside. She could see more cats. It was a spacious flat, with good furniture. She knocked on the window, first carefully, then loudly.

A figure appeared from around a corner, peeking back with an annoyed expression. The woman’s eyes opened wide, staring between her and the tabby cat. She walked over to the window and opened it, Ada blinking at her.

“I see you met Diego”, she mused.

“Selina!”, she recognised her. “Hi. Sorry, I was lost and he helped me out…”

“I see. Well done, Diego”, she scratched his chin. “Does your dad know you are here?”

“No…”

“Come on in, then. We’ll call him”, she turned around, walking into her flat, leaving the window open.

Ada turned around and went to wave goodbye to Jason. He waved back, and left.

She stepped into Selina’s home, closing the window behind her. Diego rubbed himself against her legs, and soon five more cats were at it. She sat on the floor to pet them all.

“Ada,” the woman called, a phone on her hand and leaning to look at her from behind the living room wall. “your dad says you have a phone with you. Why didn’t you call?”

“Oh”, she mouthed, blinking dumbly. “…I forgot.”


	23. Teen Titans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ada meets Dick's friends, and the Bird Duo gets their time to shine

“I’m Wally! Nice to meet you!”, the red-haired boy smiled brightly.

Ada smiled back, shaking his hand.

“My pleasure.”

“I’m Roy Harper!”

“Hi.”

“Donna Troy.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Name’s Garth.”

“Hello.”

“I’m Lilith!”

“Hi…”

Robin rested a hand on Hummingbird’s shoulder, noticing her growing uneasiness.

She deflated a bit at the touch, breathing deeply. The others discreetly moved back, giving her more breathing room, but not enough discreetly for her to not notice. She could picture it, Dick getting his friends together in a couch and going: _Well, then, I want you to introduce you to my sister, but first you have to know that she has some SERIOUS fear slash hate slash innate distrust of strangers, so we have to be, like, very chill about the meeting thing. Questions?_

She was mortified.

One person at a time would have been waaaaay more comfortable to her, but Dick had been so excited about it and Ada wanted to meet his friends, too. The teens’ mentors were a mere few meters away, giving them privacy and being a silent support.

This was still horrible to her nonetheless.

She took another deep breath, brushing it off. It was okay. She could just take it as if it were business, after all, this was Dick’s team, and it had been drilled into her how important it was to know the people that would fight beside you.

The idea sparked brightly in her mind.

“Oh! Could you show me your gigs?”, she asked, and the group of teens also relaxed, having successfully avoided an awkward moment.

They escorted her to the Tower’s training rooms among kind-hearted teasing and friendly bets. They ended up racing there.

Kid Flash totally dragged them through the floor.

There was a brief discussion about who should go first. Hummingbird just listened, a tiny smile on her lips.

“How about we just do group training, so Humm can watch all of us?”, Robin pipped up in a miraculous second of silence between voices.

“Yeah, well, okay, that’s a good idea too”, Red Arrow mused, turning around to go for the door.

Troya laughed under her nose, while Omen shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“Watch us go, girl!”, Lilith said to her, fingers forming the victory sign.

Ada just mimicked her, and walked over to the observation window, secretly happy to get some time alone.

And so she watched.

She saw Roy’s aim and wide variety of arrows, gaped at Donna’s raw strength, stared at Aqualad’s magic and Omen’s psychic powers, managed to follow Wally with her eyes and watched Robin lead proudly. They worked well together. Really, really well.

Hummingbird rested her cheek on a hand, content with that.

Dick had friends. At that was great.

The training session ended and the elders went to her like a tidal wave, asking for her opinion excitedly and asking to see her in action.

“I’m not that good”, she smiled cheekily. “Just throw some batarangs around, act mostly as a distraction, and heal.”

“There IS merit in that!”, Robin half-scolded her.

Her lips twitched a bit. It was no secret that Ada didn’t quite feel the thrill of combat. Batman had always given her tasks that stayed away from the main fights, and she was fine with that. She would only swoop in to create some breathing room for the others, mostly dodging and only striking if she was 100% sure the opponent would fall or there was no other choice.

“How about we do a sneak simulation?”, her brother continued.

“Okay”, she nodded.

Robin went to the console to enter the commands. Ada just stood there, listening to the other’s chatter. The duo finally entered the training room, cheers behind them.

Before them, there was a false forest.

“This is not our usual field of action”, she said to him, an eyebrow raised.

“I know. I also know that you can show off a lot better in this environment”, he smirked.

“Ah, aren’t you the gentleman…!”

Robin chuckled.

“Anyways. You know the drill”, he got serious, clearing his throat.

Hummingbird nodded and climbed a tree effortlessly. Robin ducked low, hiding among the underbrush. They advanced together. She halted and raised a fist, having spotted a figure walking ahead of them. The siblings waited for some minutes, watching, studying the person in front for a pattern of movement or the possibility of more opponents around. Hummingbird signalled that she had spotted two more persons, and signed in which order she thought they should take them out. Robin watched her and signalled his plan: taking the first one together and splitting up to take down the other two simultaneously; in contrast of her plan of sticking together for more efficiency.

He was aiming for a plan with more chances of maintaining them undetected, if they were able to do it fast and well.

Ada sighed.

_Understood_ , she signalled.

Robin lifted a thump, and then they were moving again, stalking towards their first objective, who stood outside the vision field of their partners. The pair took positions: Hummingbird crouching on a branch; Robin silently stepping outside of the bushes.

Ada jumped off and fell on the guard’s shoulders, leaning over to cover their mouth, while Dick dashed forward and kicked the back of their knees, making them fall backwards. She held position, grunting softly when she hit the ground and crossing her legs around their neck, strangling them. Robin delivered a punch to their stomach to unwind them, and soon enough they fainted.

Hummingbird uncurled herself from their victim and looked up at her brother.

He flashed her a smile: _You are going to do fine._

She gulped down but nodded firmly, and they parted ways. She returned to the safety of the branches; the leaves barely shifting as she passed, the wood remaining silent for her. The person below her seemed unaware. They were holding a rifle. She took a deep breath, counted to five, and jumped.

Again, she landed on their shoulders, but this time she threw her weight forwards, and the adult below her hit their head against the ground. Hummingbird was quick to roll over and grab the gun, swinging it to the other’s head as they sat up and knocking them unconscious.

Ada, huffed, throwing it into the bushes and hurrying to drag the body out of sight. She didn’t hear any commotion, so she guessed Robin had done well, too.

He met with her shortly after and pointed at one direction. She turned around, seeing a building some tree rows ahead.

“What’s the objective?”, she whispered.

“Retrieve data from the study”, he whispered back.

“Intel?”

“Second floor. Undetailed.”

“Do you want to do a full sweep, or in-and-out?”

“You choo—”

“In-and-out”

“Alright.”

Hummingbird was already climbing up another tree. Robin followed her from the ground, letting her take the lead. She was a great scout. Ada backed away to him and offered him a hand. Dick climbed up the tree with her help, and was careful to follow her exact steps. The branches crunched a bit under his weight, but it wasn’t too obvious. They climbed higher on one of the nearest trees to the house and stayed there for long minutes, watching through the windows of the second floor. Some lights were lit, and there was a shadow going up and down the corridor.

“Can you do a scan?”, Ada whispered.

“Already on it”, Dick mused, face deep into his scanning device.

Hummingbird had one, too, but she didn’t really trust it.

“Seems like that window is from the study”, he hummed pleasantly.

“Nice”, Humm chirped. “There are traps, aren’t there?”

“Probably.”

She sighed exasperatedly.

 “I force the window, you take care of those? Pleeeeeeease?”, she tried, using her puppy eyes.

“Some day I won’t be there to take care of the traps, you know?”

“But that day is not today!”, she smiled, before jumping from the tree to the window. She held herself up with one arm, while forcing it open with the other.

Slowly, she swung it open, and waited for Robin’s signal to haul herself up. She rolled into the study and plastered herself against the nearest wall, eyes darting around. No alarm was triggered so, so far so good. Dick joined her shortly after, crouching low and staring at his display while Ada spread her cape in front of him to shield the light it emitted from being seen from the corridor.

“Okay. Okay, I’m detecting some close-range sensors, aaaaaaaaand… They are offline. We have been lucky with this entrance”, he grumbled, and he remembered her of Bats, grumpy even when things went well.

They moved to the computer and Robin pulled out the data while Hummingbird stood guard, breath catching every time she heard the footsteps approach. But they remained still, and the guard did not come in.

“I got it”, Robin whispered. “Let’s go.”

He went out of the window first, rolling to the ground and darting for the bushes. Ada hung herself from the windowsill and locked the window before dropping, too.

They moved together through the ground, this time, getting away from the building.

She actually startled when the trees disappeared, revealing the stark training room.

The door opened and they were flooded with woos and cheers, the Teen Titans crowding around them.

Ada was still in shock; having forgotten for a moment that it had been a training exercise. She smiled and nodded along to their comments, and finally found a good moment to slip away without seeming rude.

She walked over to the main room, not ashamed to know that she was looking for Batman.

“Dad”, she said when she spotted him.

He turned around from talking to Green Arrow and Aquaman, the other leaguers close by.

“Everything alright, Humm?”

She hugged his waist silently, burring her face in his armour. He rested a hand on her back.

“How was it with the Titans?”

“They are nice”, she mused, turning her face so she could be understood, but her eyes were staring into the distance.

“Would you like to spend some time with them, then? A week, or…?”

“No”, she cut him off. “No”, she repeated, softly this time, looking down. “I… I don’t belong.”

She must had said it louder than she thought, because J’onn parted away from his conversation with Flash and Diana to walk over to her and crouch down beside her.

“What makes you say that?”, Bats was asking, but Ada was now staring into J’onn’s eyes.

“Have they been rude to you?”, Green Arrow asked with worry and confusion.

Ada blinked at the Martian.

“I understand how you feel”, he said.

And she left Batman and hugged J’onn, patting his back.

“They have been very nice”, she finally said. “It’s just… I don’t feel like my place is with them. I am not one of them, and I will never be; not because they don’t want me too, but because… I don’t know. I don’t feel… The connection. The connection that I feel when I’m with Robin, or Batgirl, or Diana, or dad… You know?”

“I know”, J’onn nodded.

“I’m making you sad”, Hummingbird said suddenly, voice trembling. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be”, he answered, his voice unchanged. “I might not be as alone as I thought, after all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to disappoint but this chapter turned out to contain about zero to none Teen Titans. I couldn't make it click, so... It didn't.  
> I'm starting to make the path for Dick leaving Gotham. It's going to be rough.
> 
> Anyways, if you guys have any ideas or requests for Ada interacting with somebody in particular, let me know and I'll see if I can fit it in with the story.  
> Comments are writing juice!


	24. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Bruce Wayne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen I'm very ace I literally had to look up the definition of masturbation because my mind doesn't find words for it.  
> So this is kinda messy

“Master Bruce requests your presence, Masters”, Alfred said, all business.

Dick and Ada raised their heads from their respective entertainments, both sprawled over the couches, and exchanged a glance. They followed the butler in silence to Bruce’s study.

“Take a sit”, he said once they got there.

But none of them moved.

“Nobody is in trouble”, he sighed, and then they did.

The siblings sat on the small couch, while Bruce took his armchair.

“I think you are both old enough to have… The Sex Talk.”

Dick and Ada jerked a bit in surprise.

“Is this because Barbara and Dick are officially dating?”, she asked, eyebrow raised.

Dick nudged her with a pointy elbow.

“What? It’s not a secret, isn’t it?”

“Not anymore!”

“It never was”, Bruce mused, and Ada laughed loudly at that.

The boy flushed a bit, and decided to get on with it.

“Alright, then: The Sex Talk, by Bruce Wayne. Show us what you got; oh, pond of infinite wisdom…!”, he waved dramatically.

Ada leaned back, caught between the amusement of the situation and the honest curiosity.

The man cleared his throat, and his eyes darted in the way they did when he was thinking which of his personas would handle better the situation. For what Ada had observed, they were: Batman, Wayne the Public Face, and Bruce. Or, as she liked to call him: Dad.

Please let it not be Batman giving the speech. Nor Wayne. She would rather Batman over Wayne, to be honest.

He brought his hand to his back pocket and took something from it, showing it to them. “This, is a condom.”

“I already know what a condom is”, Dick grumbled.

“But Ada doesn’t”, he replied, looking at her.

She was staring at that with her head tilted, observing it intently. Bruce took off the package and went to hand it to her.

“You can touch it.”

She glanced at him, uncertainty clear in her expression. She grabbed it with cautious fingers, caressing the rubber.

“What’s it for?”

“It’s a preservative. You place it over a man’s penis, and…”

Ada dropped the condom and jerked away in a pout of disgust.

Dick wheezed and laughed.

“Why would you give me that?!”, she shrieked, looking at the condom abandoned on the floor.

“It’s important to know how to put them on”, Bruce continued, and truth be told he was being very professional about it.

“You mean boys don’t know how to put them on? Why should I have to do that, it’s their penis, not mine!”

“If everybody knows about it, we all win.”

Ada pressed her lips together, staring at him for a moment. He knew she was thinking about saying something, but it always took her a while to decide to do it, so he waited.

“I have read about period. I tried to talk with a boy in skating class about it and he said that it was gross and that he didn’t want to hear about it. Then why do I have to learn this?”

“That boy is wrong, and he should learn about menstruation just as you should learn about condoms”, he answered, and Ada crossed her arms, but seemed appeased.

“What else?”, Dick asked, and he was covering his mouth with a hand, eyes smiling.

Bruce sighed, looking at her daughter, who was taking it more seriously.

“Well, before ever having sex, it’s very important to check for consent with your partner. It’s never a bad moment to ask if they are still comfortable with what you are about to do, and you have to give them the room to back off if they are feeling uncomfortable.”, he made a pause, but Dick and Ada remained silent, she nodding in acknowledgement. “The basics are: the man inserts his penis on the woman’s vagina. From then on there are lots of ways of doing it…”

He interrupted himself, because Ada was raising a hand.

“Yes?”

“And what happens when a man and a man have sex? And a woman and a woman?”

“Well, then there’s the other modalities of sex: anal, oral…”

Ada leaned back dramatically, her mind opening to images not quite accurate but still very new to her, and she blinked in shock, trying to get acquainted with those ideas.

She didn’t like any of the images crossing her mind.

“Ieugh…”, she mouthed.

“Ada, don’t be disrespectful”, Bruce scolded her lightly.

Dick was failing at holding his laughter.

“Dick, control yourself. We are trying to have a civil conversation here and you are not helping.”

He sobered up as best he could; “Sorry”, he mumbled.

“Do you want me to go over them, Ada?”, Bruce asked, hands clasped together.

She shook her head.

“No. No, I need… I need a moment.”

“Okay. You can ask me about it whenever you want.”

Ada gasped for air, a mischievous smile glistening in her eyes.

“…Except Justice League meetings, if you please.”                                   

She closed her mouth, still smirking. Dick snorted at the mental image.

“So, do you have any questions about it?”, Bruce continued.

She took a deep breath, trying to think about it, but her mind felt kinda… stuck.

“I think I will ask when I get interested in it”, she nodded to herself.

“Alright. Would you like me to go over masturbation?”

“What’s that”, Ada jerked her head, staring at him fearfully.

Dick was now smiling silently.

“It’s when you manipulate your genitals to…”

Already she was fidgeting, face scrunched in uneasiness and looking like she would rather be anywhere else. Bruce blinked at her, feeling dumb.

“Maybe… I should had gone over sexualities first.”

“Yeah, maybe you should have”, Dick nodded, and despite the small smile still plastered on his lips, he was being serious.

“Ada, it’s okay to be repulsed by sex. You are very young, and… Maybe you will never be interested in it. But, still, it’s important that you learn about it.”

“I understand”, she nodded when she got a hold of herself and could stop squirming. “But I think I need some air”, she wheezed sheepishly, feet itching.

Bruce nodded, and that was all she needed to get up and walk away.

 

She returned four days later, at midnight, right on time to join patrol. She was a lot calmer now, having assimilated what had been talked. She felt no interest for it, but as people say: knowledge is power. Ada sighed as she crossed the garden lazily, but immediately tensed when she heard something drop from a window to the ground.

The figure straightened itself, and they stared at each other from the distance for a moment.

Ada waved at Selina, not waiting for her reply before turning around and heading inside.

That explained lots of things.


	25. Of Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who has an exam tomorrow and thought: Ahhh, now is a great moment to write some batfam

“I… will be gone for a while.”

“Again?”, Jason asked, brow furrowing. “You skipped last Monday, too.”

“This time it will be different”, she huffed, insecurity clear in her tone. “It will be longer.”

She always told Jason when she felt like she was about to leave. It wasn’t fair to just leave him waiting for her to accompany her to the bus stop if she was god-knows-where.

“How long?”

“…Weeks?”

Jason stopped and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her to a halt.

“Something happened?”, and by the way he was looking at her, she knew he was thinking the worst.

“It’s- It’s nothing bad”, she was quick to reassure him. But how could she reassure him further when she herself didn’t know what was going to happen? And then she shuddered: something had happened, despite not being related to the buzz deep inside her chest: telling her to get ready, telling her to leave civilization behind. “I mean… My brother and my father had a fight the other day, but they just yelled…”

“But it unsettled you”, he said, his voice firm enough to let her know that it was not a question.

“Yeah…”, she sighed.

“Enough to make you want to run away from home for weeks.”

“I don’t run away…!”, she pouted, crossing her arms.

“You do.”

“I don’t!”

“Alright, forest child”, he raised his hands in fake surrender, resuming their walk. “Just be careful out there, okay?”, he added softly.

Ada smiled at him, nudging his side playfully.

“I will be alright: like a fish in the water; like a bird in the sky; like Jason Todd in Gotham!”, she giggled.

Jason nudged her back, huffing.

They sat and the bus stop: Ada hugging her sports-bag, Jason with his hands deep inside the pockets of his hoodie. She zipped open a pocket and plugged out a bill of fifty. He stared at it for a moment before taking it swiftly.

“Say thanks to your dad on my behalf.”

“Will do”, she nodded, thus completing their ritual.

They stayed in comfortable silence for a while.

“How’s your mom?”, she asked.

Jason did not answer to that.

“I’m sorry”, Ada mused.

“It’s not your fault”, he replied, dry.

She looked at him with worry, chewing her lip, before sighing and dropping her bag to hug him in silence. He seemed to appreciate that, just leaning on her and stroking her arm slowly.

The bus finally pulled up in front of them, Jason letting go of her.

“So… see you in what, three weeks?”, he shrugged.

Ada stood up, eyes darting around the floor.

“No more than a month, I hope.”

“Alright. Take care.”

“You too.”

 

She was indeed running away.

Ada realised that when she found herself at the border of the forest, staring to the manor. Unlike the other times, she didn’t want to go back.

She didn’t want to go back home and move amidst the tense atmosphere. She didn’t want to see Dick angry, pouting and shying away from her. She didn’t want Bruce to be grumpy and brisk and to snap at the smallest mistake.

But she either faced it, or never came back.

So she walked through the silent halls: checked the kitchen, checked the study, the couch room, the Cave.

The Batmobile was missing, as well as the Batman costume.

She made her way to Dick’s room and knocked on the door. When no answer came, she pressed an ear against the wood and called again:

“Diiiiiiiiick?”

Still, there was no answer, so she opened the door slowly and peeked inside.

Ada let the door swung open, staring with teary eyes. The lights were off and the room was cold.

Dick hadn’t been there for days. Nobody had told her that, not even the Wind, but she knew.

She turned abruptly and walked into her room, violently opening a drawer and fishing her phone. With shaky fingers and even shakier breath, she called her brother.

“Yes?”, he answered.

“Where are you?”, she sobbed, tears already falling.

She bolted around the room, not knowing what to do with herself.

“You are back”, he sighed, and it was not a question. “The problems I was having with dad… I… I couldn’t stay, Ada. I’m sorry.”

“I’m scared”, she whimpered, as she slid to the floor in a corner.

“Please, don’t cry…! It’s gonna be alright, I promise! You can come visit, and I can come visit! My problem is with Bruce, not with you. I love you, Ada, do you hear me? This is not your fault and it doesn’t change anything between us.”

She hiccupped and dropped the phone, bringing her hands to her head, her hair, feeling the starts of a massive headache.

“I-I’m sorry…!”, she spoke up between sobs. “I-I’m sorry I-I ran! I’m s-sorry I wasn’t there t-to help…!”

“It’s not your fault, Ada”, Dick reassured her again.

She shook her head, biting her lip.

“I’m alone…”, she whimpered.

“Alfred isn’t there?”

“Sleeping…”

“Go wake him up. Let him know you are back.”

“No”, she whined.

“…Okay. Okay. I’m calling Bruce, alright? I’m gonna tell him you are back. Stay where you are, okay? Everything will be alright, Ada. I know it feels like a lot right now, but it will be alright. How about we meet tomorrow? We can have lunch, and you can tell me what you have been up to in the forest. Or not. What do you think?”

“…Okay. Yeah… See you tomorrow?”, she asked, drying her tears and snout with an arm.

“Sure! I’ll shoot you a message and I will pick you up! I can show you my new motorbike and my apartment!”, he said with his usual cheerful voice.

“Alright…”

“Great. Great. Stay where you are, okay? See you tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you.”

They hung up, and Ada was left alone to suffocate in the void that her brother’s absence had left. Her mind was numb, her eyes burning. She didn’t know what to do, yet she didn’t want to do nothing. She stood up, gaze stumbling upon Deer Grayson. She sobbed louder, more tears streaming down her face, and went to grab the plushie, hugging it tight.

But still, it wasn’t Dick.

Bruce found her on Dick’s bed, curled into a ball and trembling, fingers digging into his pillow.

“Ada”, he said carefully, approaching her slowly, his cape dragging behind him. “It’s alright. Dick needs space…”

“WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DRIVE HIM AWAY?!”, she screeched, swatting at his hand. “WHY DID YOU MAKE DICK LEAVE?!”

Her voice held an unsettling echo, barely there. But that could have been the irritation caused by the sobs and whimpers. Bruce’s face straightened.

“Dick left because he wanted to, Ada.”

“Then why did you argue so much!?”

Her eyes were bloodshot, cheeks totally wet and breathing harsh.

“People disagree. It’s normal.”

“DICK HAS LEFT!”, she yelled, exasperated and know kneeling on the mattress, face twisted in anger.

Bruce took a deep breath, catching the guilt she was throwing at him and doing his best to let it go instead of bolting at her.

“And you are sad about it”, he nodded, sitting down on the bed. “You feel like he has left you behind.”

That struck a chord. Ada leaned back, falling silent.

“He has not”, he reassured her. None of them moved, neither reached for the other. “You have already spoke. And you’ll be having lunch together tomorrow, am I right?”

“…Yeah”, she nodded slowly.

“I know it’s a big change, Ada, but it will be alright. Dick has moved out, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t your brother anymore, or my son. It will take a bit of adjusting, but we will be alright.”

Ada nodded along. Her headache was now quite intense, and she only wanted to close her irritated eyes.

“Will you be sleeping here tonight?”, he asked softly.

“Yeah”, she said, drying her tears and reaching for Deer Grayson.

“Alright. I’m going to sleep, too. Good night, peach.”

She left herself drop onto the pillow, curled up around her plushie.

“Good night, dad.”

 

“My brother has moved out while I was gone”, she said, staring into the distance.

Jason glanced at her.

“Auch”, he said sympathetically.

“I had never felt so alone before than when I went home and he wasn’t there”, Ada continued, voice trembling and a tear escaping.

“I’m sorry”, he mused, voice small. “You still have your dad, though.”

Ada giggled nervously.

“Dad is nothing like Dick. He almost never makes jokes, or plays with me, or just chills. Home was a cosy place and now I feel like I have to follow etiquette.”

“Have you met with him?”

“Yeah. Yeah, we had lunch, we hugged a lot, I made uncomfortable questions… Yeah.”

“Well, that’s good. That he is not diching you, I mean.”

“Yeah…”

They remained in silence for a while, watching the traffic flow lazily.

“Get on the bus with me”, Ada said suddenly.

“What?”, Jason blinked, thinking he had misunderstood.

“Come home with me”, she tried again, looking at him.

They stared at each other.

“I don’t know, Ada…”, he sighed, looking away.

“I feel lonely when I’m home”, her voice was hesitant, not knowing the way to express herself as she wanted to. “But I don’t feel lonely when I’m with you.”

She stared at him, and waited for the boy to meet her eyes.

“…I don’t feel lonely when I’m with you, either”, he admitted quietly, but a slight anger flourished on his face. “But I don’t want to come only because you need a substitute for your brother”, he grumbled.

“Jason”, she breathed, voice growing grave and strangely serene. “You are my best friend. I don’t want you to come live with me because I want a second Dick; I want you to come live with me because you deserve so much better than what has been given to you. I don’t want you to live in the streets, alone, when we could be having a life-long sleepover.”

Jason chuckled a bit at that.

The bus pulled over and opened its doors, the driver smiling down at Ada. She stepped in and turned around, half her body still outside, and reached out.

“Come?”

Jason reached back.


End file.
